


Travels Across Exandria* (*airship not included)

by Rogue_Bard



Series: Travels Across Exandria [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Bodyswap, Gen, Hijinks & Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:21:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 29,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22576240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rogue_Bard/pseuds/Rogue_Bard
Summary: The Mighty Nein are looking forward to a few days downtime after speaking to King Dwendal. Vox Machina has gathered at Whitestone, to discuss a message they received from Allura that the war across the sea may be more than it seems.Everyone goes to sleep. And that is clearly their first mistake.(AKA there's not enough bodyswap shenanigans in this fandom, and I believe in being the change you wish to see)
Series: Travels Across Exandria [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1690570
Comments: 349
Kudos: 826





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Started working on this a month ago, so obviously a lot more has happened in-universe since then, but I'm still having fun writing it, so I hope some folks will enjoy reading it as well.

**Caleb**

As Caleb came to consciousness the first thing he noticed was the darkness around him. It wasn't the darkness brought in by exceptionally good shutters, or even the constant dim gloom of his room in the Xhorhaus. This was thick and almost tangible, and for a moment Caleb panicked, reminded of Obann's spell in the cathedral. But before he could work himself all the way over into a panic attack, the fear faded away. It was an odd feeling, like floating in the salt-heavy seawater of Nicodranas. He felt amazing, weightless, like nothing could touch him.

But clearly things could, because suddenly there was a pair of hands on his shoulders, pulling him forward. With a jolt the darkness faded. He could see, he was standing, and whoever had grabbed him was hugging him tightly, speaking into his ear as they nuzzled into his shoulder.

"Thank you, thank you, you all did it, you saved her! Thank you." The speaker clung to him, talking nonsensically but sounding so familiar. At last Caleb managed to place it.

"Mollymauk?" he asked in disbelief, pulling himself away to get a better look at his friend, confirming what his ears had told him. But that- "I- Am I dead?" It wasn't the best way to start things, but he had to know. He searched his mind, trying to remember the fight that had felled him. But there was nothing, not since the cathedral, and they had all survived that. Was this Trent? Had he done something to Caleb as he slept? A fresh wave of panic washed over him, and Molly grabbed his arms again.

"Caleb. Caleb, you need to breathe. I don't think you're dead. But just, just stop a second, okay?" Molly sounded distressed.

And that wouldn't do, Molly almost always sounded happy. Caleb wanted him to sound happy. It was hard to follow one train of thought to any particular place, but through his mind's racing, Caleb heard Molly telling him to breathe. He could do that.

Several deep breaths later, Caleb opened his eyes again, running a hand through his hair. His hair. What was wrong with his hair? It was far longer than he had ever grown it, and when Caleb brought the fingers tangled in the long mess forward, he found dark, inky black.

"Molly?" he said slowly, trying to load all of his confusion and upset into a single, drawn out word.

"Yes, yes, I suppose that's part of the problem. Okay, listen. Something weird is happening. But it's okay. The Raven Queen is going to fix it, because she want's Vax back. And she's a goddess, so she can do anything. We just need to be patient." Molly was pouring on the charming, convincing tones, speaking to Caleb like he was a particularly touchy mark, and Caleb hated it.

"Do not talk to me as though I am a stranger, Mollymauk Tealeaf, I know what you are about." Caleb responded sharply. It wasn't until the familiar name left his lips that he realized his voice was not his own. He was still the one moving his mouth, still shaping his Common with Zemnian accents, but the tone was off. A hand flew to his lips in alarm.

Molly just smiled, a little sadly. "Yes, you do. Of course you do. Oh, how I've missed you all."

At once Caleb felt terrible for snapping at him. Here he was, somehow given the gift of talking to his friend once more, and this was how he chose to use it? That wouldn't do. Whatever was happening, he was here now, and if Molly said his goddess was handling things, Caleb wasn't sure he had any choice but to believe it.

"We miss you as well," he said softly, in the unfamiliar voice. "Whenever we are speaking of things which bring us joy, you seem to come up. Beau has a tattoo now-"

"Oh I've seen it!" Molly broke in excitedly. "Did you know she passed out while she was getting it? They all did, even Jester, and she's one tough cookie."

"Wait a moment. Do you mean you have been- that you are able to watch us? That the dead are-" but before Caleb could lose himself down that train of thought, Molly broke in again.

"No, not all the dead. Vax can, he's the one whose body you're in. He helps souls pass through the Raven Queen's domain, into the lands of the dead. But there's something odd waiting for me there. Maybe waiting for Lucian, I don't know. But I don't want to go, and he can't _make_ me, so we just stay here." Leaning in close to Caleb, he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and said "I think he's enjoying my company." Caleb blushed and looked away, still smiling.

This was pure Mollymauk, and he had missed his old friend. Things would get sorted, and in the meanwhile, it wouldn't do to waste the time they had.

"Alright then," he said, seating himself on a comfortable chair that was suddenly visible beside him, as soon as he thought about wanting one. "Tell me what of our adventures you have seen, and what you would like to know more of."

**Vax**

Vax woke- and that in and of itself was an oddness. Sleep was a mortal inclination. In his first years with his Lady he had continued to sleep, out of habit rather than need, but of late there had been so much to be done. He hadn't slept properly in years. Except that apparently now he had. And now that he was awake, it became clear that something was not right. There were people all around him, at least one touching him, others not quite that close, but he could hear their breathing. At least five others in the room. Why would he have allowed himself to be so exposed? Why would his Lady have allowed it?

Carefully, he opened one eye.There was a goblin leaning against his knees. He first impulse was to get away, but he managed to quell it, letting out only one large shiver before he forced himself to maintain calm. _Still. Quiet. Take stock of the situation_ , he reminded himself. It felt strange, dusting off a very rusty set of skills. Vax hadn't been in a situation like this in over a decade, and it was one aspect of mortal life that he did not miss at all. Carefully ignoring the goblin, he examined the rest of his surroundings. There was one other bed in the room, and it looked as though at least two other people were in it, though it was difficult to make out, between the blankets and the general darkness of the room. Between the beds a pair lay on bedrolls; a half-orc, snoring softly, and- something else.

Most of the work Vax did for his Lady was in Tal'Dorei, which meant there were plenty of things in the world he had never seen. Including, it would seem,this race of large, pink and grey-furred folk.

No one else in the room appeared to be awake. That was a stroke of luck. If he could just get himself away from the goblin, then he could find out what had happened, find his way to a temple, speak with his Lady and ask for further direction. Yes, that would fix everything. Vax moved as stealthily as he could, but as soon as he started to, he could tell it felt wrong. His mind sent instructions to limbs that were suddenly awkward, too long, too wiry, and without any of his usual dexterity.

Instead of sliding soundlessly from the bed, his feet tangled in the blankets, and he kicked against the goblin. It rolled in response and, having been laid close to the edge of the narrow bed, went tumbling to the floor. It landed on the legs of the half-orc, who gave a grumble that seemed to indicate he would be waking soon as well. Vax froze and watched the room's other occupants. The goblin had rolled to its feet speedily enough, but instead of moving to attack, it was now looking at the mirror on the wall in confusion. It raised its hands to its face, feeling it, feeling its ears and sharp, pointed teeth. Then it started to scream.


	2. Chapter 2

**Nott**

Veth smiled as she slowly came awake, comfortable and surrounded by warmth, Yeza's arm draped over her waist. A peek through her lashes told her that it was still dark out. No need to start the day early, if Luc was going to let them sleep. Sighing happily she snuggled back against her husband. And immediately stiffened. This wasn't Yeza. Yeza didn't have breasts for her to be running into when she scooted back. But then-

Time caught up with Nott, and she remembered that she hadn't been able to curl up with her husband since weeks ago in Nicodranas. No, she'd gone to sleep with the rest of the Nein, all staying in one room, not wanting to be separated even by walls. They had just gotten Yasha back, and now that awful Trent Ikithon was calling her boy 'Bren'. She'd liked it, the first time Caleb had said that that had been the name his parents gave him. Bren. Brenatto. It made it seem like fate really had meant for them to find each other. But now, hearing the name on Ikithon's lips only made her want to hiss and reach for her knives.

But he wasn't here now, and she had other problems. The person wrapped around her wasn't Yeza, but they were also too small to be any of her friends. Tensing and listening, Nott tried to hear the rest of the group, the rustles and heavy breathing (not snoring, Yasha would always insist). But there was nothing, save for the soft whistles of breath from the person behind her.

Slowly, carefully, Nott eased out of the bed, bracing for the small drop to the floor. Instead she hit it almost immediately, ramming her foot hard against the stonework. Nott let out an 'oof' of pain before she could stop herself, and the figure on the bed set up with a jolt. Nott whipped around to stare at her. Seated on the bed was a gnomish women with white hair, eyes wide. As soon as she saw Nott, she backed against the bedstead, hands going up not in front of herself as a defense, but instead to claw at the back of her neck.

"Hey, it's alright-" Nott began, before stopping abruptly. Why did she have a man's voice? Looking down, Nott realized that something had gone even more horribly wrong than usual.

**Scanlan-**

Scanlan Shorthalt was no stranger to rude awakenings, but falling to the rough wood floor was certainly the rudest he had had in some time.

Instantly alert, he turned to make sure that Pike was alright, and in so doing caught a glimpse of movement to his left. Focusing on it, he froze. Goblin. There was a goblin here, and if there was one, there was a pack of them, and they would rend and rip and burn- No. He couldn't let that happen, not this time. He had to take this thing out before it could sound the alarm.

But it didn't seem to be trying. It simply stared at him, wide eyed and frozen as a doe in a searchlight, even as other figures in the room started to move. Scanlan turned his attention to finding the most likely source of attack- And as he moved his head, so did the goblin. He faced it straight on again, and it focused back on him. Dawning realization made Scanlan bring a hand to his face, and of course the goblin in the looking glass followed suit. And quite without plan or forethought, Scanlan started screaming.

There was a flurry of motion and activity around him, the room seemed to have been full of sleeping people, was this some sort of goblin horde thing that he'd fallen into the middle of? This was a nightmare, this had to be a nightmare, what wasn't he waking up? He was screaming and screaming, Pike should be waking him up. A blue arm snaked around him, and a hand of the same color clapped over his mouth, stifling the screams.

"I don't know what the fuck you think your doing, but we can't be drawing attention." The creature behind him said. And that wasn't a goblin. Too large. Scanlan stopped screaming. Maybe this was a prison?

"What's happening? Why am I all small?" A man's voice, beside him. The cadence was oddly familiar, but a small turn of his head showed the speaker to be a half-orc who Scanlan was quite sure he had never laid eyes on before. The blue person removed their hand from Scanlan's mouth, now that he'd stopped making noise.

"I was wondering the same." A deep voice said, this one coming from a very tall woman with coloring like nothing he had encountered before. "Well, the same, but in reverse." There was something about her, something so comfortingly familiar. And she said she was surprised to be big...

"Pikey?" he ventured, voice high and feminine, as well as difficult to get out around all these horrible teeth.

"Scanlan?" The blue women asked, voice laced with worry.

"Is this some sort of shared dreaming? A curse? I didn't feel like we've angered anyone recently, certainly not more than usual." The question came from another unknown creature, this one large and pink and grey, his features vaguely bovine.

"Percy darling?" The blue women said with a squeak.

"Alright, what the fuck is going on?" The half-orc asked, anger rising in his voice.

"It's okay, Grog. We all need to stay calm, and then we'll figure this out, alright?" This voice was slow and measured, and unlike the others Scanlan didn't immediately pick out the familiar tones. But he had heard it before, somewhere...

In the moment it came to him, he wrested himself away from the blue woman- Vex?- and stepped towards the red-haired man who had just spoken. "Vax?" Scanlan asked in wonder.

There was no calm after that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Nott so much, and I will be writing more for her in the future, this chapter just didn't want to be any longer, sorry! Also, generally will be updating weekly, I've got the next several chapters done, but I'm kinda stuck, so I won't be early-posting my buffer like I sometimes do. Thank you for reading, and see you next week!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing is going faster than I'd estimated, and this is a short chapter, so have an early update :)

**Fjord-**

It was the stillness of the room that woke Fjord. He'd rarely slept by himself, going from a cot at the orphanage to a hammock aboard ship to sharing rooms with various traveling companions. And given current circumstances, the Mighty Nein had elected to stay together when they slept, rather than occupying all four rooms that had been allotted to them.

At the group's insistence, Nott had taken one of the beds with Caleb, who was definitely checking in and out, and had been since Ickathon had spoken to them. He wouldn't do well with anyone but Nott touching him at the moment. The rest of the girls had crammed into the second bed, Jester and Beau curling around Yasha, who still looked like she couldn't believe that they were really there. Fjord and Caduceus had taken the floor, and Fjord had subtly positioned himself between the door and the rest of the party. So much had happened, but the one thing that hadn't changed was his need to keep them safe.

He'd meant to stay awake, to stay on watch, but clearly he had fallen asleep. And now he was on a bed, one that felt far softer than the ones at the cottage had looked. And he was alone. A look around the room confirmed it. Alone, in a place he had never seen before. This was bad. He knew that wizards could teleport people, but wouldn't he have noticed?

Sitting up, Fjord was struck by how heavy his body felt. He had certainly put on some muscle since beginning to follow the Wild Mother, but nothing like this. Looking down at his arm, he froze. He wasn't wearing a shirt, and he had definitely been clothed when he laid down for the night. But more than that, his normally dark green skin was a light, ashy grey.

A knock came at the door, and Fjord froze, worried that it was about to open, looking for somewhere to hide this ridiculously bulky form he had suddenly acquired. He needed a story, needed to know what to do. But nothing came to him, no fresh lies or thought of disguise. It was as though his mind was suddenly blank. Much to his relief, a woman’s voice came through the closed door and asked him if he needed anything, letting him know that breakfast would be served in half an hour. He thanked her, breathing a sigh of relief as the footsteps continued down the hall. Absent a better plan, there were worse things than breakfast. Now if he could just find a shirt…

**Grog-**

If Scanlan weren't a goblin, this whole thing would actually be pretty cool. Vax was here, which was amazing. Grog hadn't gotten the chance to hug him yet, because as soon as they'd established who was who, Blue-Vex and Blue-Keyleth (they matched, it was pretty cool) had begun clinging to him and hadn't stopped.

Pike was big, not quite as big as Grog would be in his own body, but way bigger than normal, and Grog really, really hoped that they would be able to spar before they had to switch back. She could probably lift him up, like this.

Yes, the real problem here was Scanlan. Percy (and he just shouldn't be that big, it wasn't right) had moved to stand between Scanlan and the mirror, and that helped a bit, but Pike still hadn't managed to calm him down. Every time she got close, he would try to do something like run his fingers through his hair, and hit a long, pointed ear, and then freak out all over again.

Grog moved to sit on his other side, holding out his hand to take Scanlan's.

"Look, we match! At least we can both be green for a little while together, yeah?" Grog asked. Scanlan didn't respond, didn't laugh, but he didn't start breathing hard or sobbing again, so maybe that was something. Grog took a closer look at his friend, who was almost dwarfed by Pike's arm around his shoulders. He certainly looked sharper than usual, all teeth and elbows, though Grog couldn't really see his knees under the- hang on.

"Scanlan... Are you a lady goblin?" Pike glared at him sharply, the look not quite as intimidating as it would have been on Pike's face, but coming very close. "Not that it matters...." He said quickly, but Scanlan had already pulled away, and was running his hands over his goblin body again, though this time he looked more curious than upset, so maybe that was for the best.

"I think I am?" Said Scanlan, sounding far calmer, but very perplexed. "huh, that's different."

"Um, guys?" Keyleth asked from her place tucked next to Red-Vax. "Something's wrong. I mean more than being in the wrong bodies. I can't do magic."

Well that was a problem.

“What do you want to do magic for?” Grog asked, looking over from his place next to Scanlan. She was practically sitting in Vax’s lap, which looked pretty hilarious, since Vax was currently a tall, skinny human. Keyleth was human as well, but she was bigger, more muscular. Definitely a fighter. She could have probably carried Vax on her back with little trouble. But he couldn’t bring himself to laugh. Usually he would be laughing with Scanlan, but he was a wreck, and Pike didn’t seem much better. Oh, she wouldn’t mention it, not if other people were having problems. But it didn’t mean she wasn’t upset, Grog knew her.

“This body needs healing, I was going to fix her up a bit, but I can’t. I can’t even Druidcraft flowers or something.” Keyleth sounded worried, and Grog could see why. No matter how worn out or empty of spells they got, there were certain things the members of their party who could cast were always able to do. Pike could always make light, Scanlan could always make friends, and Keyleth could always create flowers. If she couldn’t now… Yes, this was very definitely going to be a problem.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To answer what some folks have been mentioning in comments; yes, the stats stay with the body, which is part of why both the rogues immediately fell on their asses. Some characters haven't noticed the change much yet, but that will come, and it will be more evident with some characters than others :)

**Yasha-**

It had all been a dream. So vivid that she'd believed it, but it hadn't been true. She was somewhere now, with no idea who she'd gotten there. There was a strange gnomish man in front of her. Was this another trick from Obann? Was he angry with her? Perhaps he had seen into her dreams, known that she'd dreamed of killing him. But it was hardly the first time. She had even said it, at times when his control briefly wavered. She would tell him that she would kill him, and he would just laugh at her. So why would he be angry now?

The man in front of her didn't appear to be threatening her. In fact, he held his hands out in front of him in a placating fashion. Did he think she would hurt him? She'd hurt so many people, these last months. Trapped behind her eyes, watching her body do things without her permission.

"I'm sorry," she said, uncurling from the wall she was backed against, just enough to make sure she would be heard. "I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you, but if he makes me, I won't be able to stop it. The Hand isn't here now, _he_ isn't here. You have to run, please, before they make me hurt you." There were tears in her eyes again, and she could feel them starting to run down her face. Why wasn't he listening?

"Yasha?" the man asked, taking a step forward. Yasha looked around frantically, they never left her alone for long, they would be back soon, she had to- "Yasha, that's you, right? It's me, Nott." And that made even less sense. But perhaps-

"Did you die again? And come back in a different body, like before?" A sudden thought made Yasha shudder "Did I kill you? Oh no, I've-"

"No! Yasha, stop it!" And even though she still didn't recognize the face, it _felt_ like Nott, so she listened as the man continued. "We saved you. We all came to Rexxentrum, and we fought Obann, and you killed him. He's dead. He can't hurt you anymore, Yash. I promise, it's real."

She wanted it to be, oh how dearly she wanted it to be true. And it did match with what she remembered. If this man was real, how would he know her dream? Slowly, she reached out, drawing herself to the edge of the bed. The man came forward, taking her hand and drawing her into a hug. When she sat back from it, several long moments later, there was no doubt in her mind that this was Nott.

"So," Nott said, smiling softly as she brushed at Yasha's tears, "Any idea how we ended up in new bodies?"

A knock sounded at the door before Yasha could respond, and they both went on alert. "Is everything alright?" a soft voice asked "I heard yelling."

"It's fine, everything's fine, we'll be out of your hair in just a few minutes, so-" Nott began to bluster, before being cut off.

"No trouble sir, breakfast will be ready in just a few minutes.” As Nott stared at the door thoughtfully and muttered to herself about pocket bacon, it occurred to Yasha that Nott had asked why _they_ were in new bodies, not why she was. Looking down, Yasha found she was now a gnome as well. Well, wasn't _that_ interesting.

**Pike-**

Sarenrae bless Grog, he'd finally gotten Scanlan to calm down. Pike hated it when he was upset, and she was usually so much better at helping him relax. But this, being big- it was awful. How did her friends manage? Was it that there was so much space in them, and it just filled itself with emotions? Every time Scanlan flinched away from his hands, or his reflection, it made her angry, made her want to hurt things. And it wasn't that Pike didn't get angry sometimes. It was actually something she and Scanlan had spent a lot of time working on, once she finally gave in and tried to have a relationship with him.

She had felt like being angry or unhappy meant she was failing Sarenrae, somehow. It had taken a long series of conversations with Scanlan for her to realize that bottling everything inside wasn't healthy, was hurting both of them. Now they had fights, sometimes. They both yelled, they both stomped off in annoyance. But they talked, after, so it was good.

Now, she didn't feel like any level of talking would make things better. Even when nothing was wrong, there was a constant low level of anger in her, and it needed next to no provocation in increase. If this was how her friends felt all the time, Pike owed them a series of apologies for times she had judged them, even if they hadn't been aware of it. And honestly, the combination of being young and stupid, and being big and full of emotions, explained so much about how Percy had acted when they first met...

"Pikey?" Scanlan said, drawing her attention back to him. It was still so strange being larger than him. Pike had never been larger than anyone, except young children.

"Yeah, Scanlan?" she asked. Hearing his name seemed to ground him, so she'd been trying to use it as much as possible.

"Can you try healing Keyleth? Hell, maybe that'll help whatever is wrong with our bodies, but either way, she's looking pretty banged up." What he was saying had clearly been part of a larger conversation the group had been having, and she was letting herself get distracted.

"Of course, sorry!" she said, reaching over to Keyleth, who looked the worst, with heavy blood stains on her clothes. She didn't have a holy symbol, so she closed her eyes and drew one in her mind, focusing on the warmth and light of Sarenrae. Nothing happened. Pike frowned and tried again. Still nothing. "Maybe I need a symbol?" she looked around for something to craft something from. But that shouldn't matter, she'd done small things before, purely from the power of her belief. Why wasn't it working now?

Thunder crashed outside, and a jolt went through her hands, into Keyleth. It was small, nothing like the force of healing she was used to wielding, and at the same time it was so electric that it burned. She jerked her hands away, looking at the group, wide-eyed, before turning her gaze to the window. Thunder crashed again, and as the rain poured heavily outside, Pike began to feel that they had far more questions than answers.


	5. Chapter 5

**Caduceus-**

This morning had been very nice, until suddenly it wasn't. It had started with waking cuddled up next to another warm body, which up until his family had left the grove was how Caduceus had begun every day of his life. There wasn't a lot of space in the grove, and firbolgs didn't put much of a premium on privacy, anyhow. Even if he was fighting with one of his siblings or another, there was always someone to curl up with when falling asleep. As the number of beings sharing the grove had slowly dwindled, it was most noticeable at night, when the bedrooms became colder and colder.

Joining the Nein had been a delight, had meant that he finally wasn't alone again. But many of them were far more hesitant about touch than he had grown used to. He was working on helping them to be more comfortable with it, but it was very slow going at times.

Waking with his arm around someone, their head tucked under his chin, had been lovely. Then he'd opened his eyes. He was in a place he'd never seen before; with a person he'd never seen before. And seeing as they'd just potentially angered a very powerful wizard, that was concerning. He'd quietly woken the strange person next to him, and after a brief bit of confusion and false starts, it became apparent that this person was actually Jester, and that they were both in other people's bodies. Yes, for a day that had started off so nicely, this had gone downhill fast.

Shortly after they realized the situation, there was a knock at the door. These people whose bodies they were in had servants and were called 'My Lord' and 'My Lady'. So, a fire was stoked, wash water brought, and they were informed that the rest of their group would meet them for breakfast shortly. Which brought them to now. Jester had gone off to the dressing room to get ready for the day and was exclaiming over the variety of clothing she found there. Caduceus wasn't sure how he felt about the idea of changing the clothes on this body he was in. It felt like an impropriety, which was strange, because the firblog had always had very casual opinions about nudity. Still, here and now it just felt wrong. Similarly, when the maids had bustled in and called him 'My Lord', it _hadn't_ felt wrong, which was wrong in and of itself. The whole thing was just entirely unsettling, and there was so much racing through his head that Caduceus was dizzy with it.

In an effort to ground himself, Caduceus leaned back against the bed, closed his eyes, and reached for the Wild Mother. Even in a grand house like this, there was still enough of the natural world around that She would be there. Caduceus took a deep breath, reached- and found nothing. His eyes flew open in alarm. Even when She wasn't able to answer his questions directly, Caduceus always felt the Wild Mother, as a calm, divine presence. Now there was nothing. Striding quickly to a window, he threw it open and reached with his magic to the plants growing a story below. Nothing happened.

"Jester?" he called, not turning his gaze from the patch of green below. "Jester, I think we have an even bigger problem."

**Percy-**

Percy was finding this entire situation befuddling, and that distressed him. Problems like this, clever tricks of magic (which this surely must be) were what he was good at seeing through and planning around. It should be him and Scanlan figuring out how to fix everything right now, but Scanlan was too busy keeping himself out of a state of panic, and Percy- thinking was like trying to move through a mud bog. Part of the reason he liked spending time in his workshop so much was because no one expected him to talk there, so no one would notice when he fell silent, his brain moving too quickly for his mouth to keep up with. Now it felt as though he would have to slow his normal rate of speech, just to keep from stuttering and sounding like an idiot.

It was why he had let himself just stand there for so long, watching the rest of the group. At least in this comically large body, he should be useful in that respect, though he didn't feel like a fighter. And it was interesting, too, how he'd just known to stand in front of the mirror. It was obvious now, but given how much of a slog thinking was, it was odd that his mind had leaped there. He was skilled in many things, but emotional intelligence had never been high on the list, his wife and children would be the first to tell you that. Maybe thinking more slowly meant he had more time to think about the feelings of others.

Either way, it didn't take a great leap of thought to see that Pike was distressed now, by her inability to connect with her god and her magic. She'd done something, but clearly it wasn't what she'd been expecting, and it was bothering her. Scanlan was attempting to comfort her, and it was distracting him from his own predicament, at least a bit. But Pike- she'd followed Sarenrae all her life. To suddenly not have that, it must be incredibly scary, even if she was surrounded by her husband and her friends. Her breath was coming in short gasps, and she kept twitching her fingers, likely trying more spells, which simply weren't working.

On instinct, Percy laid a hand on her shoulder, trying to offer some comfort. A warmth curled down his arm and to his hand, and at once, Pike's breathing slowed and her twitching halted. Everyone turned to look at him.

"Darling... Did you just cast Calm Emotions on Pike?" Vex asked uncertainly.

"I- I think I must have. Well that's interesting." Percy replied, looking at his hands in utter confusion. Calm Emotions was a divine spell. Maybe other types of casters could do it, but Percy had only ever seen it from a cleric. And the warmth he'd felt was similar to when Pike healed him with divine magic, which definitely felt different from Keyleth or Scanlan's casting abilities. Percy took a deep breath, forcing himself to slow down and grasp the realization that felt just outside his reach.

A powerful, warm breath of wind went through him, and though he heard no words, a single one formed in his mind. He looked up in wonder. "Melora?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's where we hit the first major difference in mental stats. I know the FJord and Grog are also pretty different, and that will come up more when Fjord has to actually talk to people, lol. But the difference between 9 and 20, and especially how Percy and Caduceus are as people/how they use their minds... yeah, this was a fun one.
> 
> In other news, there may be a slight delay in update schedule next week. We had a sudden death in the family yesterday morning, and even though it wasn't someone I'm incredibly close to I'm finding it hard. Which is to say I'm not sure how much writing I'll be getting done this week. But I should at least be able to get through chapter edits, so we'll see how things go.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cats, I am overwhelmed by how nice everyone is in this fandom. Thank you all for your good wishes, they are so appreciated. I've had negative reactions in other fandoms when I've told people I'll be altering my update schedule (for the same reason, several years ago), so I was worried about saying anything. To instead have people be so kind and supportive was amazing, and I actually ended up getting a lot of writing done this week. So here's an early update, as a thank you for being so wonderful, and there will be another chapter on Tuesday, as normal.

**Jester-**

As much as Jester enjoyed the closet of this fancy half-elf woman whose body she found herself in, it was really nothing on how impressive her mama's collection of beautiful dresses was. People came from all over to see her mama, and many of them brought dresses, either to woo her, or just for the pleasure of seeing her wear them. Jester had grown up playing amongst them, and so after that not much was impressive. Still, it had provided a decent distraction until Caduceus had called out to her.

Now she sat on the ground in front of the fireplace, wringing her hands with worry. The Traveler wasn't answering, and she had tried to cast Sending to their friends, which wasn't working either. Something was terribly, horribly wrong, and even with Caduceus standing right beside her, she felt incredibly alone.

A knock came on the door. "Mom, Dad, come on, breakfast!" A boy's voice called through the door, before continuing down the hall in loud conversation with a girl. Jester and Caduceus looked at each other in alarm. They had taken over the bodies of someone's parents? That was awful!

"We have to fix this," she said, and Caduceus nodded, holding out a hand to help her to her feet. And she needed the help! This new body was remarkably weak, though apparently it was strong enough to carry at least two children, so that was something. Going to the door together, Jester took a deep breath before opening it and starting down the call, in the direction that the children's voices had gone. Down a staircase, and with blessedly few false starts, they found their way to the dining room. A pair of children sat at the table, they looked to be in their young teenage years. There was also a half dozen other people around the table, most of them looking dubiously around the room.

"Should we just tell them?" Jester asked in a whisper. "What if they think we did it on purpose and throw us in jail or something?"

"I think we have to risk it, I don't know anything about being a lord, so I think pretending would just make it worse." Caduceus replied. That made sense.

"Um... Excuse me!" Jester said, causing everyone to grow silent and look at her, and suddenly she realized she didn't know what to say.

"We seem to have accidentally turned up in bodies that don't belong to us, and we'd very much like to get home." Caduceus said, in one of those calm, measured tones he was so good at. Instantly, those around the table stood up. The children went wide eyed and took several steps away from them. A dark-haired woman with a shock of white in her hair pointed one of those new fire-arm weapons at them, while the man she had been talking to drew knives and stood between them and the children.

"Percy, if this is a joke, it isn't at all funny." the woman said.

"We're sorry, we really are, but it's not a joke." Jester said. "I'd never make a joke like this, there's not even anything to draw a dick on."

"Jessie?!" The huge grey man who had been staying silent until now exclaimed. There weren't very many people who called her that...

"Fjord?" she asked hopefully and was relieved when he nodded.

"Wait, are we all here then?" A red-haired woman with a crown of antlers on her head asked. "I thought maybe this was some kind of test from the local Cobalt Soul." Beau! Of wonderful. If they were truly all here, then everything would work out, it just had to.

The pair with the weapons were growing increasingly agitated, and their eyes met in silent communication before the man spoke.

"Look, why don't you let the kids leave, then we can all talk about this?" Jester's brows knit in confusion, and it wasn't until Caduceus drew on her arm and pulled her to the side that she realized they were standing between everyone else and the doors.

"Of course. I'm sorry, we truly don't mean to distress you, and we aren't going to hurt anyone." Caduceus said, still low and calm.

"Unless you try something first!" this came from a small gnomish man who was standing protectively in front of a gnomish woman with white hair. It felt like something Nott would say, which maybe meant that the woman was Caleb? Jester was glad she was still in a woman's body, it would have been much too confusing otherwise.

There was a hushed discussion between the dark-haired man with the knives and the children, and then the two of them fled the room, hand in hand.

"Alright. So, if you aren't my brother, who are you exactly?" the woman with the fire-arm asked. It was still pointed at the two of them, though she kept looking towards the others in the room. This whole thing felt far too close to flying out of control, and Jester didn't even begin to know how to try and fix it.

**Vex-**

Despite having met multiple gods, despite having a wife who was champion of one, Percy had always had a complicated relationship with the divine and whether or not he believed in that sort of thing. The idea of divine casting was clearly bothering him and Vex wanted to be able to help. She did, truly, but she also couldn't bring herself to step away from Vax. Keyleth was on his other side, and somehow it didn't matter that none of them were in the correct bodies. Their hearts knew one another and being together still felt like the rightest thing in the world.

Keyleth was the first to break away from the embrace they were sharing, standing up from her seat on the bed and going over to look out the window. Vex snuggled further against Vax, stopping only when he grunted in pain. She was poking him with her horns. And wasn't that an odd thing to have to worry about. The surprise was enough to bring Vex out of her head.

"How long do you think you have?" she asked Vax, quietly. "She can't have meant for you to be here like this, can She?" Vex had hated the Raven Queen for taking her brother from her for a long time. A part of her always would, but she'd grown more at peace with it over the years. There were days when the grief was overwhelming, there always would be; Vex knew from helping Percy, and from her own experiences with her mother. But as time passed they were fewer and further between. Yet suddenly here he was, the other half of her back again, and everything felt raw and fresh again.

"I don't know. Pike's not the only one not hearing the voice she's expecting. Something's gone terribly wrong, Stubby, and as much as I'm loving every minute of seeing you all, we've got to try and fix it." It broke her heart that Vax was right, but perhaps this was what growing up meant. They had made choices and moved in places that had changed the course of the world. Precious little that involved all of Vox Machina was allowed to be small, at this point. They had to think about more than just their own desires and happiness.

"Would it help to go to a temple, do you think? A city this big must have one. Where do you think we are, Keyleth? Emon?" Vex raised her voice for the last bit, looking over to where Keyleth stood next to the window, looking at what sounded to be a street below starting to come to life with the daybreak.

"I don't think so," she said slowly, leaning out as she spoke to get a broader view. Pulling her head back in, she turned around "I'm not even sure we're in Tal'Dorai anymore. There are all sorts of huge buildings here that I've never seen before, and I think by now I know at least the government district in every major city. I certainly have to fight with them often enough." It was so strange seeing the role of the eyes and toss of the head that was so clearly Keyleth on another face.

"Okay, so that's step one, find out where we are. Step two is find out who we are, I think?" Scanlan asked. Having a plan was good for him, it meant he was distracted from looking at himself. Though it did give Vex pause. Usually Percy would be right there planning with him. Instead, in that ridiculous giant body, he looked a little lost. Vex got up and went to him, twining her arms around his torso and pulling him into an embrace, this time careful of her horns.

"Does that sound good to you, darling?" she asked. It was several seconds before he responded.

"Yes. Yes, of course, that should be fine." he spoke quietly before going silent again. Vex frowned.

"If you've got a better idea we'd all love to hear it," she said tentatively, trying to invite whatever it was he wanted to say. It wasn't often that Percy found himself at a loss for words.

"No, no I don't think I do. I'm honestly finding it difficult to have any ideas at all right now. But I trust you all, so I'm happy to do what you think is best." He still seemed deeply unsettled, but before she could respond further there was a knock at the door

"Bren?" a woman's voice called. They all froze, and made no response "Bren, please talk to me. After all this time, don't you think you owe us that much, at least?"

Well shit.


	7. Chapter 7

Beau-

Once the kids had left the room, things went quiet. There were still weapons being aimed at them, and the kids had obviously been sent for backup, so Beau wasn't ready to say the situation had improved, but it at least hadn't gotten worse. She kept an eye to the obvious threat, while looking sidelong at the others in the room, who were apparently her friends. Which meant this wasn't some kind of test or new expositor hazing ritual; they never would have involved the rest of the Nein in something like that. And also-

Beau turned fully away from the woman with the pistol, trusting the others to keep an eye on her, and made sure she wasn't counting incorrectly. She wasn't.

"Okay, who are we missing? Where's Yasha?" They couldn't have lost her again, not right after they had her back. She and Jester hadn't even discussed it the night before, just shared a look and a nod before pulling Yasha into one of the beds to nestle between them, where they be able to see her when they first woke up.

"I'm here," a voice the seemed far too light and soft to be Yasha came from the white-haired gnome, who the other gnome still appeared to be trying to protect from the others in the room.

"I'm Caduceus." The other white-haired person spoke up, this one a human, and apparently the pistol-wielding woman's brother.

"I'm Jester, and you're Fjord, right?" The hot half elf woman asked of the giant of a man who had called her 'Jessie'.

"That's right. And you?" He turned back to Beau.

"It's me, Beau. So where the hell is Caleb?" She asked, worry increasing. Caleb hadn't wanted to come to Rexxentrum. The only reason he had, the only reason he had felt safe doing it at all, was because they had been with him. And now something had happened, and wherever he was, he was all alone. Which maybe was the point; this was definitely magic. Maybe it was magic meant to isolate Caleb, to get him away from the rest of them so that the fucking Assembly could interrogate him, or finish what they'd started when he was a kid? Maybe, but then that also didn't make sense. There were so many more efficient ways to get the rest of them out of the way. Hell, they could have just had King Dwendal change his mind about them being traitors (never mind that only half of them were ever _from_ the empire) and throw them in prison. No, this had to be something else.

"And what about you two? I know this is all very strange, and we're terribly sorry, but it's not something we've done on purpose, so perhaps we can work together to solve it?" That was Caduceus again. Beau wasn't sure she'd ever heard him say that much in one sentence, usually preferring to leave the talking to her and Fjord, or really anyone else. But Fjord seemed even more uncomfortable with the spotlight than usual, and she just wasn't sure what to say. If he had ideas, he was welcome to them.

"I'm Cassandra De Rollo, and I'd very much like to know what you all are doing in my house. No, I understand that you say you don't know-" she held up a hand imperiously to stop Caduceus when he started to speak again. "-but I've got no reason to believe that. How do I know this isn't some plan to infiltrate Whitestone and take out it's chief protectors all at the same time?"

"Whitestone?" Nott asked, breaking out of the panic she'd clearly started falling into at the idea that Caleb was lost. "Where that awful residuum stuff comes from? Why would we be here?"

"What does residuum have to do with it?" the man with the knives asked. Beau could hear people coming down the hallway, they were running out of time. There had to be something-

"Wait, Whitestone is in Tal'Dorei, right? Do you know Allura? She's on the Tal'Dorei council, she can tell you who we are." Maybe it wasn't the best plan, but it was something. And just in time, because a squad of heavily armed guards had just appeared in the doorway.

"You know Allura Vysoren?" Cassandra said, disbelief tingeing her voice. "Alright. Let's see about that, then."

Keyleth-

"Bren?" It was clear that the woman wasn't going to go away. No one else looked like they were going to do anything, so Keyleth stepped forward and opened the door.

"What do you want?" she asked, immediately kicking herself. It was obvious what the woman wanted; she wanted to talk to whichever of them was in the body of this 'Bren'. The woman barely looked at her, gaze going past Keyleth and sweeping over the group behind her. Keyleth took a step back, not inviting her in, exactly, but making it easier for the rest of them to see where she was looking. Her eyes fell on the red-headed body that Vax was currently inhabiting.

"Home at last, and you don't even send word to us." there was something in her voice that was difficult to parse. She was pretending about a lot of things, like being surprised that he hadn't reached out. But the pain and regret in her voice sounded genuine.

Vax took several steps forward, putting his body in front of the rest of the group, save Keyleth herself who still stood to the side. "What do you want?" it was vague enough that the woman might fill in more of the story, but he had loaded his tone with a sadness of shared history to match hers. They could only hope it was the right call.

She looked at him for a few long moments, before forcing brightness into her tone. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your new friends?" she asked.

"No. No, I don't believe I am. Tell me what this is about." Vax said, calmly but firmly, and Keyleth held her breath, waiting to see if the gamble would pay off, or if it would raise alarms as being too out of character. The woman appeared displeased, but not surprised.

"It's about the fact that we missed you, Bren. I thought I'd get some time in to say hello before you all went to the Cobalt Soul, or wherever else you plan to visit. I thought you'd missed us. Perhaps I was mistaken." She turned on her heel and left, and she did appear to be genuinely upset. Keyleth felt bad, clearly she and this Bren were old friends, and they hadn't been able to give her the kind of reunion that she wanted. Still, she'd at least given them a lead.

"So what do we think about going to the Cobalt Soul, then? Maybe find some answers there?" she asked the group.

"I think you might, more than the rest of us." Vax replied. At her questioning look, he gestured to the clothing she was wearing. Vestments. Well wasn't that interesting.

"Alright then. To the Cobalt Soul!" Scanlan said, his enthusiasm immediately dampening when he heard the high, tinny voice he had in this body. They all grabbed the things in the room that appeared to belong to them, rather than just being part of the room, and then let, hopeful that they could find their destination without raising too much suspicion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back on schedule, though with a somewhat shorter chapter.
> 
> Also, this was the last of the intro chapters! Next chapter, we will visit everyone's favorite wizard mom!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Greetings from the covid-19 capital of the country! So sad to not get to hang out with other fandom folks at comicon this weekend, but at least I'm getting a lot of writing done in the mean time.   
> Also, last weeks episode.... How's everyone doing? I've never had to wait a week for this sort of thing before, I only got caught up in November, and I'm so stressed.  
> Also also, Happy Purim!
> 
> And lastly, because I had someone ask; I've looked up info about bear lifespans, and decided that at this stage in the timeline, Trinket is fat and happy in Bear Heaven. So he is not going to appear in this story, sorry.

Allura Vysoren desperately needed a good night's sleep. She'd spent yesterday getting yelled at in the Dwendalian king's court, and the day before having a similar, if more civilized, experience in the Bright Queen of Xhorhas' court. All she wanted now was to curl up around her wife and not leave their bed for at least a good ten hours. That would be enough, then she could continue pulling on the string she'd been following regarding this crawling king business.

At first it had seemed like an imagined concern from a group who simply didn't have any idea what they were trying to manage. But the more time she spent talking to the Mighty Nein, straining to comprehend them through the time dilation, the more she realized that while they may have stumbled into it by accident, this was a legitimate catastrophe in the making.

Before heading off on her whirlwind court tour, she had spoken with the various members of Vox Machina, both on the Council and not. They had stopped the ascent of a god before, perhaps they could be of help this time as well. Keyleth had confirmed to her that she would make sure transportation was arranged, that they would all meet Allura in Whitestone the following day. So why was it that now, barely at a decent part of the morning, she was being called away from her warm bed by an urgent message from Cassandra De Rollo?

She sat at her desk wearily, preparing to contact Cassandra using a messaging mirror. Kima dragged a chair behind her, standing on it so that she was at the appropriate angle to rub her wife's neck, as well as hook her chin over one of Allura's shoulders and eavesdrop.

"If this isn't as dire as she made it sound to Talia, I swear I'm going there myself and giving that girl a piece of my mind." Kima grumbled. She'd clearly been enjoying having her wife home at last, and had been very pleased that Allura had agreed to sleep in.

"Talia knows her job, and she isn't prone to exaggeration." Allura soothed, wanting to cut any disagreements between her with and their housekeeper off at the pass. The mirror before her gave a sharp pop, and the face of Cassandra De Rollo appeared.

"Oh thank goodness, I'm so glad you got back to us. We really weren't sure what to do, but then they mentioned you, so I'm really hoping you'll know?" Cassandra looked more frazzled than Allura had heard her in quite some time, which was saying something given that when she'd met the young woman, Cassandra had been running an entire city as a refugee camp in the face of a dragon incursion.

"Who said they know us?" Kima asked, cutting to the point as always.

"I'm not- they call themselves 'The Mighty Nine'? There's only six of them though, but I guess they're missing someone? Which still wouldn't make sense..." she trailed off on thought before shaking her head briefly and turning back to Allura, "But at any rate, have you heard of them?"

For a moment Allura could only gape at the mirror. "I- I mean yes, I do know them. But why on earth are they in Whitestone?! Last I saw them they were in Rexxentrum, and that was barely a day ago."

"That's the problem. They aren't in Whitestone. Or they are, but not as themselves... I'm sorry, I'm not making sense." Cassandra took a deep breath. "When my brother came to breakfast this morning, he informed us that his name was Caduceus Clay, and that he didn't know how he came to be in my brother's body. This got everyone else talking, and it turns out that none of Vox Machina are actually here, these 'Mighty Nine' are in their bodies for some reason. And they are co-operating, at least for now, but I can't just keep them in the cells forever, people will talk. And if they're here, where's my family?" This last part was quieter, possibly not meant for Allura and Kima at all.

Cassandra had worked so hard to deal with her trauma, to find happiness with her brother's new family, to find love with Kynan. This had to be hard for her, and Allura's heart ached.

"I do know them. They're good people, working to solve some very serious problems. I'd actually asked Vox Machina to meet me at Whitestone so we could discuss helping them." The relief on Cassandra's face was palpable. "I don't know what's happening to make them take on Vox Machina's bodies," Allura cautioned, "but I can tell you that they aren't bad people, and they very likely want to be back to their business just as much as you would like them to be. Give me a few hours, and Kima and I will come to Whitestone, as we'd planned."

Cassandra nodded. "Of course. Thank you very much, Allura." With another pop, the mirror was once again a simple reflective surface.

Kima hopped around to sit on the desk facing her wife. "Well," she said, after a long pause, smirk lighting her face "well, what have the kids gotten into this time?"

Allura groaned "You know I hate it when you call them that. I'm younger than some of those in Vox Machina, don't forget."

Kima snorted "Who, Scanlan? If we're talking about mental age, I think even this latest batch you've picked up have some years on him. And it's not like that matters. They trust you. They listen to you, and that’s mostly down to the fact that you act as though they should."

Allura shrugged in annoyance. Kima always tried to tell her that she was a better leader than she wanted to give herself credit for, but that just wasn't what Allura wanted from life. Now if she could just stop tripping over groups of adventurers in need of a mentor... But either way, she had, and now they were here. Which reminded her-

"I need to try a Sending to Vox Machina. I've got a theory about where they are, and if I'm correct, hopefully this will work." Moving her fingers intricately, Allura called up the Sending, concentrated as hard as she could on Jester, her physical form, not the spirit of her, and began speaking. "Hello, this is Allura Vysoren. I've reason to believe you might be in a bit of trouble, please respond to this message to confirm?"

The Sending snapped out into the air, and a few minutes of silence passed as Allura waited, then-

"Allura? Oh thank Pelor, this is Vex. We're in Rexxentrum, and in the wrong bodies, we don't know what happened. We're headed to the Cobalt-" The message reached its limit and snapped, but it had been enough. With a sigh of relief, Allura cast again.

"Vex, the red-headed man with you should have books. In one will be teleportation circles. Are they labeled in any way?" Another pause, this one longer as they presumably searched the books, then-

"Yes, they are, but not in a language any of us can read. Other suggestions?" Vex was clearly frustrated by this, but Allura recalled Caleb's Zemnian accent, and realized there would be very little reason for anyone in the group to have even seen that language, regional as it was.

"Does one have a mark like a horseshoe with two lines in it that are struck through?" Hopefully, otherwise describing an entire sigil in twenty-five word increments was going to tap her out of all but the most basic spells.

"Yes! Yes we've got it! But none of use can use sigils to teleport, even Scanlan's magic doesn't work like that."\

"Excellent. That's fine. The monk with you is Expositor Beauregard, she should be able to request a teleportation at the Cobalt Soul. I'll meet you."

"All right. Hopefully this will work. Thank you so much, Allura."

As the final message snapped out, Allura sighed in relief. If she could get them to Yussa, well, he certainly owed both her and the Nein enough favors that he would send them on to Whitestone. Once they were all in the same place they could start figuring out just what in the nine hells had happened. Which reminded her; aside from alerting Yussa to his incoming guests, there was one other person she had to contact. A few words whispered over her mirror and it connected with a pop.

"Hello, good morning. There's something I think I'm going to need your help with, Shaun..."


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently corvid-19 is good for some things. Y'all get a second update this week! Be safe, everyone. Remember, washing your hands and staying home when sick is a part of loving each other.

**The Mighty Nein**

"And here I was being _so_ impressed that yesterday we'd managed to avoid being thrown in the dungeons." Beau said wistfully. The group had been separated into individual cells, and while they could all see each other through the bars, the situation was far from ideal. Still, they could understand why Lady De Rollo wouldn't just let them walk around free, at least until Allura had vouched for them. They had gone with the guards with minimal protest. The guards had clearly been expecting most of the fight to come from Fjord, which made sense given the giant form he was in now. Instead it was Nott, wanting to start off on a search for Caleb, who had given them the most trouble. She'd tried to sneak away, something that she was normally very good at, but despite her still small size nothing seemed to be working. Apparently goblins were just better than gnomes at some things.

Yasha had hopped up onto her cell's small bench and was enjoying swinging her legs above the floor. It had been years since she was short enough to do this, and if nothing else it provided a distraction. This small body was interesting, and much easier to stay calm in. In fact, once she'd calmed down from the shock of believing that she was back with Obann, she had begun to feel more at peace with herself than she had in years. It was also nice being small for a change, because it made the others more likely to protect her. As soon as she had the thought Yasha was ashamed of it, but that didn't change what she felt. She was always willing to rush in, to put herself between others and danger. She'd done just that months before and it had led the her being taken, trapped as a captive in her own mind while her body traveled the continent. To have someone else step to the front felt like such a gift, and she was going to appreciate it while she had it.

The dark-haired man who had taken charge of escorting them down to the cells sat in a chair by the stairs, which appeared to be the only way out. Not that any of them were trying to escape at the moment, but it was clear that coming down here without protest had not done much in the way of buying them good will. Fjord wanted to try talking to the man, endearing himself, using his charms to get more information about where they were and what the fuck was happening. But for some reason he was really struggling with finding a place to start. Still, no one else was saying anything, and they couldn't just wait on other people to try and fix things for them.

"So are you Lord De Rollo then?" he asked. That seemed like a safe place to start. This man hadn't introduced himself yet, but that would make sense for a lord, they tended to be sort of stuck up like that. But the man gave a surprised laugh, and he suddenly looked far less intimidating.

"What? No, definitely not. Technically, that's Lord De Rollo." He hooked his thumb towards the human who they had established was currently Caduceus. "Which is part of why we're all so distressed by the situation. No, I'm just part of the castle guard. Name's Kynan." He paused a moment, giving Fjord an evaluating look. This was the part where he needed to say something, needed to keep things moving along...

"That's a cool name," he said. A few beats of silence followed, and then Kynan turned away. Fjord mentally cursed, while in the cell next door Nott gave a sharp huff of laughter.

"So you're part of the guard?" Nott picked up the conversation. "Are they searching? Have you found anyone else?" This was clearly some sort of magic they'd dropped into, which meant they needed Caleb. How could he be gone? This all seemed far too complicated to be some plan of Trent's to get at them. But did that mean that something else had happened to Caleb, before whatever happened to them?

Kynan turned to her, looking surprisingly receptive. Even since she'd gotten the tattoo from Orley it had been a bit easier to talk to people, but Nott wasn't sure how much of that was down to them mostly spending time in places like Xhorhas, where goblins weren't automatically treated with mistrust. Still, she usually had to build some kind of rapport before people were receptive to her. Maybe gnomes just came across as friendly and likable?

"We haven't found anyone who doesn't belong." Kynan said. "But until this morning I would have said you belonged, so that doesn't mean much." he looked at her earnestly. "I don't suppose you could tell me more about this friend of yours? Maybe we'll have an easier time finding him for you if we know what to look for?"

Nott narrowed her eyes. "Don't bullshit a bullshitter, it's tacky, and you aren't very good at it."

The earnest look on Kynan's face drops into a wry smile. "Yeah well. Had to see if I could get one over on Scanlan. Even if he's not in his body, it's worth it to try."

If she wasn't going to get any more information about Caleb, maybe there were other things worth pursuing. "So this is Scanlan?" she gestured at the body she was in. "What's he like?" Time to see if he also viewed that as privileged information.

"Loud. Brash. Ridiculously clever, but if you tell him I said that I'll deny it." Kynan offered all of this very casually, sitting back against his chair and drawing one of his daggers, which he twirled absently as he asked "Does he sound like you, or very different?" That was still clearly fishing, but Nott didn't mind; there wasn't much to gain from keeping these particular things secret.

"I'd like to think all of that is true. But I'm not used to being a gnome, and having a dick is pretty weird, not gonna lie." She offered it with an equal level of casualness. Kynan had spoken like he was familiar with this Scanlan, but also like he enjoyed a good joke at the man's expense. As expected, he sat up straighter, taking the hook for deeper conversation.

"You're a woman? Well isn't that something. I'll warn you now, if you are out in the town and anyone slaps you, you've probably got it coming." He cocked his head a moment, and Nott realized that perhaps had hadn't been taken in as much as she'd thought. "What are you, normally, if you aren't a gnome?" And perhaps she'd miscalculated even more than she'd first worried, because that was not a rabbit hole she wanted to go down with these folks. They had yet to see anyone more exotic than the half-giant that Fjord was currently in; who knew how these people would handle hearing that she was a goblin?

"Halfling." She said, focusing her memories on Veth, Veth's form, Veth's life, to give credit to the partial truth. "So at least I'm almost used to being this close to the ground" She gave a small, self-deprecating smile, and breathed an internal sigh of relief as the man's interest seemed to wane. Sitting back against the wall, she let the conversation go. Perhaps it would be better to observe longer, at least until Allura arrived.

**Vox Machina**

Even knowing that something was wrong, and that the situation couldn't last, Vax was determined to enjoy every minute of it. He still saw his family, of course, still checked on them from time to time, watched his nieces and nephew grow up. But most of what that gave him was a broader picture, and occasionally an entire view of a certain moment. It was different from being alive, from walking with them day in and day out.

For instance, he knew that Keyleth was a respected leader, the Voice to the Tempest, loved by the Ashari and throughout Tal'Dorei. He knew that. But seeing her now, talking to the monks of the Cobalt Soul, was different. She hadn't lost her awkwardness, and it was so charming to him that Vax rather hoped she never would. But she'd gained so much confidence in herself and her abilities that she simply pushed past it. Even now, pretending to be someone she wasn't, someone she knew nothing about, she simply ignored the stumbles. She noticed off tics in the faces of those she spoke to when something she said didn't read quite right, and she moved the conversation in a different direction without even acknowledging.

Under her guidance they made it to a teleportation room and were even able to talk one of the casters into working the sigil for them, thanks to some quick talking on Vex's part about their magic users being tapped out. They were lucky to be gone before anyone took the time to wonder why a caster would be so tapped so early in the morning. Or perhaps it was simply that they all still looked beat to fuck, despite a night's sleep. Whatever mess their bodies had been in, it had certainly not been kind to any of them.

With a rattle and pop of shifting space, they arrived in a dimly lit chamber. Scanlan immediately felt his face, ensuring that he hadn't shifted forms yet again. Though honestly, he wasn't sure what he could turn into that could possibly be worse. He'd managed to suppress his earlier panic, but he wouldn't go so far as to say he felt calm now. It helped a bit, knowing that Allura knew something about what was going on, and had given them a way to get back to Whitestone. But did that mean that Allura was friends with this goblin for some reason?

It was funny. Any other time, the idea of him ending up in a woman's body would have been fun, a time for jokes about how he was attractive in any form (Pike certainly thought so, they'd had a lot of fun with polymorph over the course of their relationship). But the element of being a goblin was simply something he couldn't joke about. No, he could only maintain a veneer of calm, since panicking wasn't helping anyone, and wait for the magic users (which he apparently no longer was) to sort things out.

The door to the teleportation room opened, and a short, rather aged looking elf stepped in, followed by a familiar face.

"Allura! Oh thank Sarenrae." Pike stepped forward, forgetting in the moment how large she was, until she almost knocks Vex over with a clip to the shoulder. She stops, looking down at her current form and feeling her frustration rise.

"Oh my. This is... Certainly something. Just to be clear, who all am I speaking to?" Allura asked. She sounded frazzled, and Pike had known her long enough to know that it took a fair bit to phase her.

They spoke up one at a time, letting her know who was who, and when at last they got to Vax, Allura's eyes widened. "Oh my. I've- I've already said that, haven't I? Okay, let's all go to Whitestone, shall we, and we'll figure this out from there." She turned to the man next to her "I thank you for your hospitality, Yussa. And as we've discussed, I will certainly let you know if we wish further consultation on the issue." Yussa nodded, still looking askance at the group, as though he didn't quite believe what was happening. Though in his defense, Pike wasn't sure she would believe it either, were she not standing here, all ten feet of her, or so it felt.

"Alright, stand back a moment." Allura cleared the center of the floor and began drawing the teleportation sigil for Whitestone.


	10. Chapter 10

Once Nott had decided to stop trying to make conversation with their guard, Jester had taken up the thread. This body was useful; the elf lady was super hot, and Jester had watched her mama all her life, she knew how to use that. Carefully, so very carefully, she was able to wheedle information about who they were now, and more importantly what they could do. Most of the conversation was casual and not very useful, but it eventually gave her what she needed. Now she just had to wait. When at last a call came from up the stairs summoning Kynan away, Jester turned to look at her friends through the bars.

"Yasha! You can send a message to Essek!" she said excitedly. The group looked at her in confusion.

"What? Jes, I can barely help when you all get hurt. I'm no cleric." Yasha protested.

"No, but that body is, Kynan said so. And if Caduceus and I can't cast, that means the spells stay with the body. So you are a cleric now. Kind of." Jester pursed her lips, "Just try, okay?"

Yasha nodded slowly, "I guess? But- how do you cast magic? What does it feel like?" She directed the question at Jester, but it was Caduceus who answered.

"Do you have a symbol, for whatever god this cleric serves?" Looking down, Yasha found that she was indeed wearing an ornate symbol on a fine chain around her neck. She fished it out of her shirt and held it up as Caduceus continued. "Okay, now close your eyes, and focus on the symbol. Don't worry about the spell yet, just find your god's presence. You do that with the Storm Lord, right?" Yasha nodded, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, reaching out. When the answering touch came, she almost missed it. She was used to feeling a god's power as a roll of thunder in her ears, or the electric tingle of lightning across her skin. This was much softer. It was a warmth, and a calmness that came with it.

"Okay," she whispered, "I've found it."

"Good," Cad said, lowering his voice to match hers. "Now you need the spell. Jester?"

"Okay. Okay, so first you need to, like, think of how Essek looks? Just imagine him in your mind as clear as you can." Yasha did this, and once she'd built his image before her, she nodded for Jester to continue. "Okay, now just think about needing him to hear you. And talk. And don't forget you only get twenty-five words."

Yasha took a deep breath, thinking about how much they needed to keep Xhorhaus updated, how much rested on it, how things were so fragile right now, and could fall apart in an instant is either side felt betrayed, how they needed- and suddenly it was like a key sliding into a lock, and she knew that the spell had formed.

"Essek, this is the Mighty Nien. Ceasefire holds, thank you. We are in trouble, in Whitestone. Working on it. Will be back in Xhorhas soon." As she spoke the last word she felt a snap, and her head fell back slightly. She wasn't used to magic like that, and casting it was quite a rush.

"Did it work?" Beau asked, tactful as ever, no matter what form she was in. Yasha tilted her head uncertainly as she opened her eyes. Hopefully there would be a response? Then-

"You aren't Jester, far too succinct. Need more information to maintain ceasefire. What are the Empire's next actions? Assistance necessary in Whitestone?" It had been quite some time since Yasha had heard Essek's silky tones, and it was a huge relief. She turned to her friends.

"He wants more information about what the Empire is going to do next. Also wants to know if we need help." The group considered.

"I'm not sure yet if we need help. If Allura can fix whatever this is, I wouldn't want to ask him to come, though it's very nice that he asked." Caduceus said.

"Not sure that's what he was offering." Fjord said offhandedly, before saying to the rest of the group "We need to tell him about the negotiations."

"And that they said they'll return the beacon!" Nott added.

"One of them. And probably not the one the Bright Queen wants. We were going to check, but that sort of all went to shit..." Beau added.

"But we still have their word. Like, the king told us to go back to Xhorhas and talk to the Bright Queen, we were just going to stay a little while because of-" and here Jester breaks off. They still don't know what became of Caleb.

"Okay. Okay. Let's try this again" Yasha said, before closing her eyes are gripping the holy symbol. "They want peace talks. Offered to return a beacon for good faith. Don't have more details on talks yet. Beacon situation is... complicated. We're good."

This time the response was swifter. "I will pass this along, and we will have someone reach out through channels regarding the talks. We need a pull debrief on the Beacons."

Yasha wasn't quite sure what he meant by that, but she was wary of casting too many spells, if she was the only healer in the group now. She settled for telling the rest of them "He says good, and that he'll work on it with the Queen."

The group all sighed in relief. They may not know much of what was happening, but at least whatever the latest mess they had gotten themselves into was, it wasn't going to accidentally prolong a war.

Their relief only increased when the door at the top of the stairs opened, and their guard returned, along with the gun-toting woman and the familiar face of Arcanist Vysorren.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh what, you thought they were actually going to be meeting up in this chapter? haha, nope. Not yet. Next chapter will feature "So what's Caleb up to?"
> 
> Stay safe and healthy, y'all.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, the chapter count went up again... Sorry?   
> In other news I'm getting So Much writing done while having WFH/practicing Social Distancing, so we're on multiple weekly updates now :)
> 
> I'm sad to not have new Critical Role during this time, but I'm so glad they were able to make a hard choice for the betterment of everyone's safety. A lot of orgs are having to do that right now, and it's nice to see folks more in the public eye leading be example. 
> 
> Now without further ado, the Caleb and Molly Popcorn Show!

Molly and Caleb had figured out how to watch down on the Prime Material Plane a bit, but not their friends; only the bodies their friends (and Caleb himself) should have been in. Hearing Caleb and Jester speak without their accents had been strange but amusing. Then the strange woman had come to the room. Molly had heard Caleb gasp a single word, _Astrid_ , before he froze completely. As soon as she went away, Molly turned his eyes from the window and focused on Caleb.

The wizard had been doing so much better, even seeing things in pieces from another plane Molly could see that. Caleb had come to have a confidence about him that had never been there when Molly was alive. He was growing, healing, becoming his best self. Molly wished that he was able to truly be part of it, rather than just seeing from afar. But now, it was as if Caleb was the same person they had first met in that pub, hiding behind his misery and a thick layer of dirt. Molly hadn't seen him disassociate like this in months. And seeing that blank look on Vax's face, when usually the half-elf was so calm and cool and in control, was even more unsettling.

"Caleb. Caleb, it's okay. Everyone's fine, and when things get fixed you can explain to this Astrid that that wasn't you. It'll be a funny story, a nice way to start a conversation. It'll be okay." Molly chattered aimlessly as he inched closer to Caleb, deciding whether or not he should reach out. Caleb didn't always do well with touch, but it seemed in this moment like he needed it. Resolved, Molly reached out and drew the other man into a light embrace. Caleb didn't startle, didn't fight, but he also didn't return the hug, just sat there, eyes still blank.

The window to the other plane silently went dark with a thought from Molly, and the pair just sat there for what was either a very long time or barely a moment. At last, Caleb slowly relaxed against his friend, and eventually even brought up an arm to return the embrace, causing Molly to smile.

"There, see? Everything's going to be fine. Do you want to see if we can find the others? I mean our people, not just their bodies. It sounded like they were going to try to leave Rexxentrum, so maybe they're gone by now?" Molly sat back from Caleb and examined his face, trying to read the tics he'd come to know in his old friend on the face of a new one.

"Yes, yes I hope so. That would be for the best. Rexxentrum is dangerous, they shouldn't stay. And it's especially dangerous to have someone people think is me in that city. I can handle it, I can play the game, but those people don't even know that there's a game to play." Caleb visibly reigned his emotions in and turned back to the window. After a few moments of him and Molly staring it faded back into a image. Still no sound escaped, but they could at least watch.

The bodies of Caleb and the rest of the Nein were there, now in a new place, some sort of stone courtyard by the look of it. There was another group of people there, and most of them looked as awkward in their stances as the Nein. Of the few who didn't, Caleb immediately recognized one of the faces.

"That is Archanist Vysorren! Oh, she will be a help in this, I believe." He said in excitement.

"The blonde woman? Is she also called Allura?" at Caleb's nod Molly continued. "We were watching when you first met her, and Vax got so excited, apparently he knew her back when he was alive."

"Really? Interesting. That would mean he's only come to the Raven Queen's service recently. Or somewhat recently, at the very least." Caleb looked down at the body he was in, wondering what secrets this dark-haired man held. But he wouldn't be getting answers now, anyway. Looking back at the window, he counted the other group, and theirs. "Oh dear. I think I see what's happened." Molly looked at him questioningly and Caleb continued. "Your Vax, he had friends as well, yes, friends he watched? And these people I don't recognize, those are his friends?" Molly nodded. "I think we have somehow switched places with them. Why I don't know. But you see how the Nein have one more to their number than his friends do? Those two, the man and the woman with Allura, they hold themselves apart, so I don't think they are part of the group, yes?" Molly nodded again, beginning to see what Caleb meant.

"Yes, and that one there is Vax's twin. But she's married to the white-haired one, so why would she be cozying up to the big grey one? I think you've got something here" Molly looked at the groups more closely. "Oh no. I think the one in Yasha right now is one of the gnomes, that’s why she keeps bumping herself on things. Moonweaver, this is a disaster!” Molly sounded utterly gleeful about the whole thing.

"Mollymauk! This is terrible! I'm on another plane, we don't know how to switch back, everything is-" Molly put a hand over Caleb's mouth.

"Hush. Yes, this is a problem. But there's literally nothing you can do from here. Believe me, I've tried." At Caleb's questioning look he rolled his eyes. "What, you think I stopped trying to look after Yasha and the rest of you just because I died? No chance." he smiled softly. "But it doesn't help. We can't fix things. So we have to believe in our friends, and wait. Okay?" After a moment, Caleb nodded slightly. "Okay." And now Molly's face widened into a grin. "And if we're just waiting, may as well enjoy the chaos!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter: Finally, They Meet!!


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since both the last one and this one were pretty short, have another chapter! In other news, if I keep writing at plague-rate, this fic will be done by the end of next week, lol. At least social distancing is good for something?

“I almost wish we had popcorn,” Kynan said to his wife in an undertone. The pair of them stood to the side of the courtyard, their niece and nephew between them, watching Vox Machina attempt to stare down this other group, who were apparently _also_ , or perhaps _actually_ , Vox Machina. The whole thing was a bit much for Kynan, truth be told. Oh, he knew that between the Whitestone residuum trade and Vox Machina’s various exploits, there were all kinds of magical shenanigans that went on in the castle and the city at large, but he tended to steer clear of them.

Cassandra lifted her arm from its place around Elliot’s shoulders long enough to smack her husband lightly on the arm.

“It’s not funny, Kynan,” Cassandra said, tension still thick in her voice. Something was wrong with her brother, and she wasn’t going to be able to relax until it was set to rights. He knew that, but he still had to try. Cassandra would wind herself into whirls of anxiety if left to her own devices. Small distractions mattered, even if they didn’t set things completely to rights.

“So who are you?” Nott-Scanlan said with a glare. The question was directed at the tall, red-haired human in the group. Kynan had been wondering himself who everyone was. Cassandra had told him there had been a switch, but this new group of people was too many. The man rubbed the back of his neck and gave a self-conscious grimace.

“That’s a little bit complicated, is the thing.” He began.

“Un-complicate it. Now.” Nott-Scanlan said. It was odd to here so much anger coming from Scanlan’s lips. Not that he didn’t get angry sometimes, but it was usually a cold, focused anger, not growling and yells.

“My name’s Vax.” The man said. Kynan and Cassandra both gasped, and the twins stiffened.

“Great, and you all know him?” Nott-Scanlan asked the rest of the group. They nodded. “So where is he? Allura said your group was all meeting here, is he running late?”

Actually-Vox-Machina exchanged tense glances, before the red-head- apparently Vax- continued speaking.

“See, that’s the thing. I’m in service to the Raven Queen.” He let that hang, and Jester, the one Kynan had been talking to earlier, brightened.

“Oh, you’re a cleric? That’s great, Caduceus and I are clerics. What, would you have been off at your temple or something?” It was so odd seeing his sister-in-law looking this earnest and perky.

“It’s not quite that type of service.” The tall woman with intricately braided hair said. “I’m a cleric myself, this isn’t- it’s more like- okay, here’s the thing-“ This had to be Pike, then, and she was growing quite anxious.

“The thing is I died, more than twenty years ago.” Vax said, cutting to the chase with a sigh. The group stood in silence for a moment, then all started asking questions at once. This went on for several minutes before a voice shouted “Enough!”

Everyone turned to Pike’s short form, somewhat surprised that such a shout had come from it.

“Enough,” she said again. “I need to know. Where’s his grave?” she directed this at all of Vox Machina, save Vax. When they didn’t answer immediately, she continued “We don’t know how this works. If he’s woken up- I won’t leave him alone to make his own way like that, I can’t. We have to find him!” The rest of her group nodded in understanding, the one in Keyleth’s form reaching down to lay a hand on her shoulder. Whatever this was, there was something going on that the rest of them didn’t yet understand.

“It’s alright,” Vax said, trying to reassure them. “I- I don’t have a grave, not like that. I didn’t die in the traditional way.” The group stared at him for a moment, then the one in Percy’s body spoke up.

“I’d very much like to hear about the un-traditional way you managed to die,” he said calmly, raising his eyebrows inquiringly.

Oh dear, Kynan thought. This could take a while.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good Morning from a lockdown zone! If you too are in lockdown, remember to reach out to your friends. Video-chat is a marvelous thing. We're all going to get through this together, stay safe and healthy everyone.
> 
> Fic-related note: So I started outlining/writing this right after episode 88 and A Lot has happened since then. Some thing will be worked in, others won't. So for instance, Essek's most recent plotline will not be appearing in this fic, nor do I consider it to be happening in this timeline. Because it's an AU, let me be happy!

Essek's teleportation dropped him several feet in the air, but fortunately he was already hovering, so it didn't really matter. He winced as his circle faded and dropped him into a bright, sunny day. He was in an alley off a village square that seemed to be built around a large tree. With a flick of his wrist, Essek darkened his skin to appear brown rather than grey and shifted the rest of his features to look like an elf, rather than a drow. Most of the folk roaming the square were either human, or what he knew were considered 'common' races in this part of the world. Very few with orcish blood, no goblins, not even any teiflings. It was strange, after a life spent in Roshona, and it brought to mind things that he had overheard Nott saying to her friends, about finally being able to move through the world without a mask. He'd thought at first that it was some sort of metaphor. It wasn't until now, seeing a city that from what he knew was far more similar to the Empire cities the Nein usually traveled in, that he realized she was likely being completely literal.

Illusion in place, Essek stepped out of the alley and surveyed the area around him. The spell had taken him to Whitestone, but Yasha hadn't been more specific than that, possibly because they had not expected him to follow. And wasn't that interesting on its own, that the message had come from Yasha? It seemed the Nein had retrieved their friend, at long last. But if she was able to send messages, why hadn't she done so before? Surely it would have been easier for them to find her that way. At any rate, that was none of Essek's business. But he needed to know what she had meant about the Luxons, the Bright Queen needed to know. And for that, he needed to actually talk to them all in person. Preferably talk to Caleb... not that it mattered.

Calling the image of the vibrant blue woman to mind, Essek messaged Jester. It would be nice to catch her unawares, for once.

"Jester, I've arrived in Whitestone to more fully debrief about the beacons. Where shall I meet you all?" The ensuing pause was long, long enough that Essek was almost prepared to cast again.

"Come up to the castle. Tell the guard's you are there to see the lady of the house." The voice was Jesters, and yet not. For some reason she was hiding her accent. Was this place truly that unfriendly to outsiders? More relieved than ever that he'd put a disguise in place immediately, Essek asked a vendor at a nearby stall for directions to the castle, and was quickly on his way. Approaching, he found it to be grand without being too ridiculous. The amount of guards spoke to general peacetime caution. Overall, Whitestone seemed to be a nice, calm place, and didn't at all have the level of chaos he would expect from a place the Nein had gotten themselves into trouble. Their sort of trouble tended to be both loud and explosive, sometimes literally.

The guards at the gate seemed to be expecting him, because he was immediately led through to a courtyard. The scene that greeted him was not at all what he'd imagined. The Nein were there, standing off to the side and in discussion with a pair of humans. Two teenagers who looked to have elven lineage hovered near them, sticking close to the clerics. Had they perhaps fallen into some trouble while helping injured children? That seemed very on brand. Dropping his illusion, Essek took a step forward, preparing to inform the group of his arrival.

"Essek!" a voice called brightly. He turned to see a half-elf woman with long, dark hair skipping towards him. Essek was very sure he'd never met her before, which was made even stranger by the fact that she threw her arms around him as soon as she reached him. For a moment it seemed like she was attempting to lift him in the embrace, but she wasn't able to. She pulled away and turned to the Nein with a look of consternation on her face, and as soon as her attention wavered from him Essek stepped back, now wary of other attempts to engage in his personal space. "Why are you so weak?" the woman called to the Nein, a tinge of accent coming through in her words. But if this woman was from Nicodranas, why would Jester want to pretend she wasn't? Essek was brought from his confusion by the sound of laughter. Caleb, who barely ever smiled genuinely, and then only at his friends, was laughing, exuberantly and freely.

"See Stubby? It's not just me who thinks that," he said to Jester. And in an instant Essek was back on guard. Because the voice that came from Caleb was missing the Zemnian accent that so clearly marked the man, that Caleb had been so unable to drop he had traveled the country of Xhorhas sounding like the enemy. Moving his hands as little as possible, Essek readied a spell to defend himself in case this proved to be some sort of trap.

"I believe perhaps someone should explain what is going on." he said stiffly. The elven woman turned back to him, face looking slightly guilty.

"Oh right, you don't- okay, I'm sorry, that's my bad. So, technically, technically, we... aren't really ourselves right now? Or we are, but not how we are supposed to be? Unless maybe it is, because how can we really-" she was cut off when a goliath came forward and put a hand on her shoulder. This time Essek looked to see where he had come from. Another three people stood to the side with a trio of guards in front of them, as well as someone Essek did recognize; the Tal’Dorei arcanist who had come to the queen's court just a few days past. When he made eye contact, she stepped forward.

"Ah yes, it was Shadowhand Thelyss, I believe? These are the Mighty Nein, currently." she gestured at the strangers standing around her. "We aren't quite sure what's happened, but we are here to work it out. If you wish to perhaps assist?"

"Well actually, actually.... I think we need to talk? Alone?" The elven woman, who given Arcanist Vysoren's information was almost surely Jester, asked. The forms of the Nein had approached, and the one who looked like Caduceus held his hand up in protest.

"No, I don't think that's going to happen," he said, sounding stiffer and more formal than Caduceus ever had. "We certainly aren't letting our bodies wander off unsupervised."

"I mean without Caleb, it's not like we can teleport." the red-haired half-elf woman said. Oh lovely, now everyone was coming over. Essek was starting to seriously question his choice in coming here, considering-

"Wait, what do you mean 'without Caleb'? Where is he?" Essek looked at the crowd of people, trying to match the strangers with members of the Nein.

"Yeah, this is really confusing you guys, I feel like we need name tags or something." the dark-haired elven woman said.

"He's not here." a gnomish man had moved to stand near Essek, and spoke to him quietly while the rest of the group discussed the idea of having ways to identify themselves when names didn't match faces. "The rest of us are, but the one in his body is apparently on another plane? Or dead, but they keep saying it’s not like that. And they say they aren't missing anyone else, so if he was in someone else's body, I don't know who it would be." Essek’s eyes clouded with worry.

There was a noise at the gate he had come through, and the whole group turned. A dark-skinned man who seemed to sparkle from the glitter on his clothes and makeup came forward. "Well isn't this just my favorite group of people?" the teenagers ran forward yelling excitedly about their 'Uncle Shaun', and he opened his arms to hug them. Looking over their heads he asked “So what seems to be the problem this time?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And up went the chapter count again. And the good side of that is what it means is I started drafting chapter 20 yesterday, so depending on things I might finish up over the weekend. This has been a lovely adventure. 
> 
> Speaking of adventures, wasn't the fireside chat last night exciting? If that ever happens to you, and you know the flue is open, you need to reverse the pressure to show the smoke where to go. You do this by holding a roll of newspaper that you've lit one end of up the chimney. This will cause the smoke to course correct. And I definitely didn't learn this by setting of the smoke alarm in a hotel during a windstorm. Nope, never happened ;)

Even having opened a branch of his shop in Whitestone almost two decades ago now, Shaun still didn't make it out to see his friends as often as he would like. In the beginning it had been a bit intentional. He didn't blame any of them for what had happened, of course. But seeing them was still painful, and strangely awkward. It had been Keyleth who eased that awkwardness, showing up at his shop in Emon one evening with a few very nice bottles of wine. The pair of them had talked all night, about all sorts of things, but mostly about Vax. It was perhaps the thing that was hardest; knowing that if only they had had more time, the three of them would have most likely been able to work something out.

But time marches on, as it always does. The pain eases on most days, and the days when it still seems to be drowning you become more manageable. Vex and Percival had a daughter, and then several years later the twins came along, and Shaun discovered how much he loved being an uncle to his friend's children. He tried to come to Whitestone at least every other month, and more often if he knew the rest of Vox Machina would be about. Still, life had a tendency to happen unexpectedly, and it had been several months since he had seen any of them. He'd been planning to try for a visit in the next week. Then Allura had contacted him that morning, asking him to come to Whitestone with all speed, not giving details of what had occurred.

The twins were alright, he could see that as they fell into his arms. But the rest of the group seemed off, somehow. There was distance between those who would normally be closest. Grog was hovering behind Vex, Keyleth and Scanlan had ignored his arrival entirely to continue their conversation with a strange drow, and Percy had bent down to talk to Pike, uncaring for the mud he was getting on his trousers and boot-front in a way that was unusual outside of the workshop for the fastidious man.

"What seems to be the problem this time?" He asked them over the heads of the twins, who hadn't let up from their embrace. No one in Vox Machina made a move to answer. Instead a blue tiefling came forward, smiling warmly and familiarly at him. Which was very strange, because Shaun Gilmore never forgot a face, and he'd never met this woman in his life.

"We're so glad you were able to come, darling. We seem to have gotten ourselves a bit- turned around? That's not precisely correct, but I'm not entirely sure what would be." she laid a hand on Valerin's shoulder, and at once between her words and the motion he saw exactly who she was, regardless of face.

"Vex'halia? How- but then you've just said you don't know, of course." He looked at Elliot, who he still stood with his arm around. The boy looked incredibly unsure about the entire situation. He'd always been the cautious one of the pair, willing to follow his sister's lead, but he also tended to be very sure of himself and where he stood. Seeing the lines of distress on his face bothered Shaun more than he would have imagined.

"We're hoping you can help us with the 'how' a bit, Shaun." A red-haired human man came to stand next to Vex, looking at him a bit uncertainly. Shaun cocked his head. Most of Vox Machina still called him 'Gilmore', though out of habit now, rather than lack of familiarity. Keyleth had switched, after that first long night of wine-drunk conversation, but something about the way the Cobalt Soul monk who now approached them carried herself made him think that was Keyleth, so-

Shaun froze then swept his eyes across the courtyard, quickly counting the faces he knew and the ones he didn't, before turning his gaze back to the man before him. "Vax'ildan?" he asked softly, wonder tinging his voice. The man nodded briefly, still looking incredibly uncertain, and that Shaun couldn't abide. He stepped forward, dropping his arm from Elliot's shoulders before taking Vax in a firm embrace. This body was taller than the man had been in life, which was convenient, because it allowed Gilmore a moment to compose himself while hiding his face against the other man's shoulder. With a deep breath, he pulled himself away, leaving a hand on Vax's arm.

"So this situation is even more complicated than it first appeared, I see." He said with a raised eyebrow, trying to keep the hitch from his voice. Because what else was there to say? ‘I'm sorry I didn't understand when you tried to say goodbye to me’? ‘I'm sorry your girlfriend and I only talked about healthy polyamory after you'd died’? ‘I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you’? None of it seemed adequate, and certainly none of it seemed helpful.

"You shouldn't do that." Scanlan- or no, whomever was in Scanlan's body right now- said. The people inhabiting Vox Machina had come over, as had their drow companion. Scanlan looked like he was going to say more, until not-Pike shushed him and whispered in his ear, causing the two to fall into a hushed discussion.

Meanwhile Keyleth had looped both arms through one of Vax's and was smiling softly at Shaun. No jealousy or possessiveness, just calm happiness. Doubtless she'd look far less content when they fixed whatever had happened, but Shaun was also very sure she knew that, and was taking advantage of the situation while it lasted, as he would have in her place. As he would now, when they got a moment to talk alone. Her eyes met his, and in that moment he and Keyelth shared a wordless understanding. A bit of sadness tinged her smile, and she leaned her head against Vax's shoulder.

"Okay, stop that. Gross, that's super weird." the person in Keyleth's body spoke next to them. "Caleb's family, but we sure as shit don't cuddle."

"He doesn't like people touching him, most of the time." Scanlan's form spoke up again. "He doesn't like it, and just because he isn't here to tell you no doesn't mean you can take advantage." Keyleth- actual Keyleth, in the monk's body, took a startled step back, looking distressed. Vax, on the other hand, turned to them with his hands on his hips.

"Wait a second. Caleb?" he asked, before continuing in a mutter under his breath "Blue tiefling, goblin, aasimar... I'm an idiot!" at full volume, he said "I'm so sorry I didn't see it sooner, but I've only heard stories, not been able to watch with him. You're Molly's friends, aren't you?" There was a sharp intake of breath through the group, and most of them froze in silence. Most of them. Pike's form charged forward, quick as a rabbit, and before any of them could even process she had Vax on the ground, standing next to his chest to make them more even of a height.

"What have you done with Molly?" she asked, her voice bristling with anger.

"Hey, hey. Hold up you guys, I'm fine," Vax waved off the assistance of both Vox Machina and the guards, his focus trained on Pike's form. "I'm a servant of the Raven Queen, as I’ve told you. I live in her realms, and for the last while I’ve had some company, in the form of a certain very enthusiastic purple friend of yours.." he moved his head, directing the rest to the whole group, "But I can’t come visiting, not ever. So I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, and I'm certainly not going to go around kissing anyone in his body, that would be weird. But I am going to hug my sister and the rest of my family, and I find it hard to imagine someone who was actually friends with Molly would begrudge me that." he quirked an eyebrow, giving them room to contradict him. No one did, but the- fucks sake, Shaun really needed names for the rest of these people-

Not-Pike asked tentatively, "So he didn't come back again? He's still dead, this time?" She sounded so tired and sad. Vax sat up, putting his head on the same level with her.

"Yes, he is. I'm sorry. But he seems to be enjoying keeping me company, if it's any consolation." he offered kindly.

"If you look anything like your sister, I bet he is." the mutter came from Not-Keyleth, and it was so strange to hear anything that ribald coming from her lips.

Vex turned to her and smirked "Oh darling, we're twins."

As out of place as the wink looked on the face of the blue tiefling, Keyleth's face turning red as she choked on air was comfortingly familiar, and Shaun burst out laughing.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the longest chapter! Also one of my favorites :) Because I started writing/plotting this after episode 88, certain things hadn't been revealed yet, and some of them, I'm very pleased to have been right about ;)

_Jester_

Once Jester finally got her hands on the bag of holding and had her sketchbook back, things were better. For one, she had her sketchbook back. But also, she was able to tear out a few pages and make name tags for all the swapped-around people, which made things far less confusing. Allura had taken Essek, as well as the dark-skinned man who had arrived later, and gone inside, to see if they could find a clue around what was going on. There were a few suggestions that were promising, but it sounded like they might not be able to switch back super soon. Like, it might have to wait until the next full moon, which wouldn't be terrible, but wouldn't be great either. Or, Essek thought it might take a whole year! Which would be so awful that Jester really didn't want to consider it for long.

But since that might be the case, the wizards told them that they should talk about what their powers were, what they could help each other with, as long as they were stuck like this. So that's what they were doing. Vex had taken a second to talk to her kids, introduce them properly to her brother, who was Caleb right now. And that was pretty weird, but also it was cool? Like, if this had never happened, the kids never would have gotten to meet their uncle. So maybe this wasn't all bad.

_Keyleth_

Keyleth sat on a dry patch of ground next to Beau, the two of them awkwardly staring at each other. Finally, Keyleth decided that since she was older, she should probably take the lead.

"I'm sorry if seeing me with Vax made you feel awkward. We didn't mean anything by it, I hope you know." Oh dear, maybe that hadn't been a good place to start, she probably should have picked something less-.

"Nah, it's cool, I get it now, I think. Like, if Molly were back- well, if Molly were back I'd kick his teeth in for not being careful enough with his blood magic, if we're being honest. But- you really love him, don't you?" Beau asked softly, with a little wonder in her voice, as though that kind of love was so far outside of her realm of knowledge that it felt like a fairy story.

"I do, yes." Keyleth said simply. She'd heard this before, with Vex. It was funny, neither of the twins had really seen love like that growing up, but they'd reacted to it very differently. Vax had given himself wholeheartedly, and too easily in her opinion, because it had taken him time to realize that love like that was something that needed returning to truly be good and real. Vex had simply failed to believe such a thing could exist, and when it had finally found her, she'd tried to come up with all sorts of reasons for it to be anything other than what it was. Pike and Keyleth had basically had to hit her over the head with it on one of their girls nights, shortly before the whole dragon thing. But it seemed to have worked out, in the long run.

"You'll find it one day, you know?" she said. Beau looked at her questioningly. "Love. Like that. You'll find it, in your own time."

Beau scowled. "What do you know about me?" Keyleth raised her eyebrows. It had been ages since anyone questioned her when she said something wise. Perhaps this experience was meant to be the universe keeping her humble.

"Well, I'm the Voice to the Tempest, one of the archdruids of the continent, so it's generally accepted that I know quite a lot, actually." This body made her want to be so much cattier than usual, it was ridiculous.

"Wow, you sure got the short end of this stick then." Beau gestured between the two of them. "That's gotta be- I haven't seen a ton of druid shit, but it's supposed to be pretty amazing. I just punch shit." That made Keyleth smile. _Hello insecurity, my old friend_. What would she have wanted someone to say, back when she was just starting out, no Tempest, just Keyleth?

"Magic can be a great gift. But it can also be a distraction, if you get to used to using it to solve problems. Magic users need someone to keep them on track. And you seem like the type your friends would turn to for that. As they get more powerful, they'll only need you more." Keyleth said, careful to be open and honest without sounding patronized. It seemed to work, because Beau gave a soft huff of pleased surprise.

"I guess, yeah. Maybe you're right." her smile grew, "So I guess in the meantime I'm supposed to show you how I punch things, and you're going to show me... what, exactly?"

Keyleth considered, then grinned. "How do you feel about really big tigers?"

_Fjord_

He set facing himself- and that was strange. Fjord didn't like looking at himself on the best of occasions, and usually avoided mirrors. Now, feeling a piercing gaze from his own eyes- it was just unsettling.

"Sooooo, do _you_ do any sort of magic? 'Cause Vex said we're supposed to figure out each other's powers in case we’re stuck like this for a while, but I don't really have any." Grog asked tentatively.

"No, I supposed with a body like this you wouldn't really need any." Fjord gestured down to the hulking grey form he now inhabited. He'd always felt awkward enough with his size when he was small for a half-orc. Now he towered over all his friends even more than usual, and he wasn't quite sure what to do about it. "I guess... I'm a paladin of the Wildmother. I can do some spells, call up my sword. I can heal a bit."

At the last part Grog's face lit up, "You can heal? That's amazing, my buddy Pike heals us, she's great at it. Though she's about Sarenrae an' all. I don't know I've ever heard about much of the Wildmother." That at least was firm ground.

"She's wonderful. I was in some... trouble, with a demon, or something like that. She saved me, gave me a chance to be something better." Fjord looked over at Caduceus and smiled softly, "They both did." He turned back to Grog. "Let's see if you can figure out healing." Fjord reached over to grab the small dagger on his belt. His body's belt. That was still very weird. He brought the blade to his arm and made a small slash, then held it out to Grog.

"Alright, okay, um... That maybe wasn't the best idea, but sure..." Grog held out his hand towards Fjord's arm, hovering over the wound as his face screwed up in concentration. Nothing happened.

"This is a lot harder than Pikey makes it look" Grog said, taking a breath and trying again.

_Scanlan_

Perched on a bench to the side of the courtyard, Scanlan glared at his own face, and his face glared back. They stayed like that for a long time, until his face (Nott, its name was Nott) spoke.

"You have magic too, right?" it said. Too? Scanlan hadn't heard of goblins having magic. But then, they didn't hear much about goblins at all, except the growls and yells as they shot them down, when Vox Machina cleared them out for folks. But that wasn't what this was about. He didn't need to understand goblins, he didn't want to understand them. He just wanted out of this awful, disgusting body.

"Yes, but I certainly don't want you getting your grubby little clawls all over it." he snapped.

"Fine." it replied snidely. "I'll make it work myself. I bet it won't even be that hard, if someone like _you_ can do it. I bet Caleb can help me-" then it stopped, and just starred over at the other side of the courtyard, where Vax was getting to meet his niece and nephew. Scanlan took a breath, ready to be angry at it for looking at the children, but then realized that it wasn't looking at them at all, only at the red-headed body Vax was inhabiting.

"Caleb. You and your friends have mentioned him before. He's the one you’re missing?" Scanlan asked. It nodded.

"Yes, and if he's switched with that friend of yours, the dead one, then that means he's dead now. Or maybe not, because your friend said it’s not like that, but he’s not here, and he’s probably off somewhere cold and dark and-" it seemed to really be winding itself up, so Scanlan held up a hand.

"Vax isn't actually dead. That’s completely true. Like, we never buried him. The Raven Queen just took him. So wherever his body it, it's not underground or anything like that.” It rankled Scanlan, to be trying to comfort this thing “Look, why do you even care?" Well that was lacking in tact, even for him. It glared at him.

"What, because I'm a goblin, and goblins don't have friends?" it asked sharply.

"Well, yeah," he said, rubbing the back of his neck in awkwardness.

Its face fell. "I wasn't always like this you know. Like that," it gestured towards Scanlan, before sighing and then drawing a deep breath. If there was one thing Scanlan was familiar with, it was his own face as he settled in to tell a story.

"The goblins took me and my family. They would have killed us all, but I got them out, got them free. Made it so the only one who got killed was me. But I'd hurt their leader while I was making time for my husband to take our boy and run. So, they decided that just dying wasn't good enough for me. They brought me back and made me look like them. But then Caleb and I found each other, and he's so good, and so smart, and he's going to fix me." It- _she_ , he couldn't keep calling her 'it', not after hearing something like that- she fell silent then, looking at him carefully, as though waiting for his judgement.

"When I was a child, goblins came to our village." he said instead. "My mother heard the screams, and she hid me in a cupboard, pushed a table in front of it. But I could still see through the crack in the door. I could still see when they killed her." And that was all he needed to say. He didn't need to go into any details. She would know, perhaps better even then his friends, what that meant.

"I'm sorry," she said, softly. "No child should lose his mother like that."

"No. No, they shouldn't." Scanlan straightened and took Nott's hand. "So, we'll have to make sure you get back to your son, won't we?"

_Yasha_

Yasha leaned against a wall. Pike had slid down against it to sit on the ground, so if she stayed standing, they would be of a height. They'd already figured out that they could both heal, so even if it felt odd to call on a different god to do so, they had things at least partially managed. After a brief time spent discussing that the conversation had waned, and now Yasha was simply watching in silence, looking at the familiar sight of her own hands being clenched in anxiety.

"What's wrong?" she asked "I mean, lots of things are wrong right now, but you seem even more worried than the rest of us." Pike looked up at her, an exhaustion in her eyes that Yasha knew well from the mirror.

"How do you stand it? Being big? Everything's just so _much_. I want to know who did this to us. I want to find them and- and do _something_. We're all just sitting here, and I can't stand it." There was so much pain and anxiety in Pike's tone, Yasha was struck with the passing desire to try and hug her. But perhaps there was something that would help more.

"You're angry. It's- I don't know if any of your friends are like this, but even though I get my powers from the Storm Lord, one of the ways he directs them is through rage. I take it into battle with me, and it makes me stronger. But it's always there. His servants, we _are_ the storm, and you wouldn't try to trap lightening, would you?" Yasha laid a hand on her shoulder. "You're fine, it's all fine. You just need to find someone to spar with."

Pike's eyes widened. "I haven't heard it put like that before, but- your friend, Fjord, do you ever spare with him? Like, he's good enough in a fight that you wouldn't hurt him too badly?"

"Not unless we were meaning to," Yasha said, a shadow passing across her face. "Things happened, recently. An enemy took my mind from me, and I was his prisoner, fighting for him, for weeks. It felt like years. And they kept trying to find me, to save me, even when I hurt them."

"And they succeeded, clearly," Pike said kindly. "Because that's what friends do."

"Yes. They really did. It's still hard to believe, honestly. Two days ago, I was still in Obann's control. And all this is so strange. I honestly worry a bit that I'm going to wake up and find out that it's a dream, and I'm back there." Yasha said with a shudder.

"Nope, this is real. It's too crazy to be anything but." Pike said firmly. "But how about a distraction? Want to see something cool?" At Yasha's nod, she stood up, and called over to Grog, "Hey buddy! Wanna spar?" Grog let out a whoop of delight.

_Percy_

When part of the group decided to spar, and Keyleth coaxed Beau into bringing Minxie into the game, Percy offered continue his discussion with Caduceus inside, and the cleric eagerly accepted.

"I don't suppose you have tea here?" he asked. It was still so strange hearing another person speaking with his mouth.

"We do, yes. I'll have some brought." Percy said, looking around for a member of the staff.

"I'll arrange it, Percival," Cassandra said as she stepped out from the shadows. Clearly it had been decided they could not leave the courtyard unsupervised.

"You're getting as bad as that husband of yours." Percy said with a roll of his eyes. "I'm quite capable of calling for it myself."

"Yes, _you_ are, but some gentleman the staff have never seen ordering them around while you stand there looking moon-eyed? People will talk. Stay here, I'll bring it." She turned on her heel and left.

"Older or younger?" Caduceus asked, light amusement in his calm voice.

"Younger, though you wouldn't know it most of the time. You have a sister?" Percy asked.

"Two, and a brother. They're- traveling, at the moment. Like me." Caduceus' voice got somber at that, and Percy had the grace to not pursue it further.

"So, you aren't a cleric, I believe?" Caduceus asked eventually, just as Percy had begun to be comfortable with the silence between them.

"No, definitely not." Percy said with a short laugh. "Which isn't to say I don't respect the gods," he added in a rush. "It's just... not the path for me." And wasn't that an odd way to put it? Though perhaps not as much as he thought, because Caduceus simply nodded agreement.

"Everyone has-" and here he paused for a moment, before shaking his head firmly once and continuing "Anyway, do you do magic at all? Or if being a lord your main job?"

Percy considered. And then considered some more. At last he turned to Caduceus and asked in exasperation, "Is it always like this?!"

"I'm not sure I know what you mean?" Caduceus asked, his tone careful and polite. He was clearly uncomfortable with the fact that he'd caused Percy's outburst, but also clearly didn't understand why.

"I'm trying to plan, to think, to strategize, and I can't! It's terrible, I'm fucking useless like this." and how odd was it that it was around this stranger that Percy felt comfortable voicing that concern? He knew if he said it around his friends he would be met with reassurances, but he also knew they would feel empty.

"It's always like this in your mind? I thought maybe it was a side affect from whatever switched us. I'm frankly finding it exhausting, if it's any consolation to you." Caduceus said. "I normally go with my feelings on things. And yes, some of them are influenced by the Wildmother, I'm sure. But mostly it's just how I relate to things. Trying to analyze my impressions ten times over is wearing me out, and I'd think it would make things take longer, but it all happens so fast."

"You put that much store in your impressions of things? Of people?" Percy asked.

"Of course." Caduceus replied. "How people are is the best indicator of how they will be, of how you can help them. Or even of how they won't be helped."

"That sounds awfully judgmental." Percy retorted.

"Perhaps it is," Caduceus acknowledged with a shrug, "but it's the best way I know to be."

"Well go on then." Percy said, a mild glint in his eye. "Tell me your impressions of my friends."

"Only if you do the same." Caduceus said, as the pair walked over to a couple of chairs set before the sitting room fireplace. This was going to be interesting, after all.

_Jester_

"I've never heard of a deity called 'The Traveller'. Are you sure about all this?" Vex asked, clearly frustrated. Jester had been talking her through spells for almost an hour, and the other woman hadn't managed a single one. Which was really frustrating, sure, but there was no reason to be rude about things.

"Yes, I'm sure. He's am amazing god, and He gives me super cool powers. All my friends have seen it, I heal them all the time. Well, less since Caduceus started traveling with us, but that just means I can hit things more often. I'm really good at that, too. Because I have magic. From the Traveler." Jester said with a pointed glare. "You know, I could heal and do that hunting thing in this body just fine, maybe you're just not very good at magic, hm?"

Vex glared back "No need to get insulting." she sighed. "Fine, tell me about Him again. I'm going to have to make this commune thing work." she looked over at where most of the others were cheering on Pike, who seemed to be enjoying Yasha's body very much, as she was now sparring with Fjord. The two tall barbarians, neither of whom knew their strength, looked fairly evenly matched, though Jester kept an eye on it, wanting to make sure Fjord was safe.

"Alright. Let's go again." Jester looked back as Vex closed her eyes to better concentrate on what she said. This time, instead of talking about the Traveler in general, Jester told her about meeting the Traveler as a girl, about how it had felt to cast healing for the first time. One of the guests at the Chateau had gotten unruly, and Blud had needed to throw them out. He'd gotten a bad bump on his head, and Jester was so grateful to him for keeping them all safe, she just wanted to make things better. So she'd reached up to touch his forehead, and there had been a spark of green energy, and suddenly, the bruise was gone. No one else had seen it happen, and Jester got the feeling that even her Mama didn't believe her, all the way. But Blud did, and he felt better, so that was what mattered.

Throughout the whole story, Vex kept her eyes closed, quite and breathing deeply. Once she finished the story, Jester waited quietly, resisting the urge to tap her foot in impatience. She was about to start talking again when Vex spoke, almost too softly to hear.

"I think I feel it. I see a path, and a doorway that's opening, and I feel warmth coming from it, like you said... I feel-" and then her eyes flew open to look in shock at the space behind Jester. Jester turned to see the green-cloaked figure of the Traveler standing behind her. She jumped up to greet him.

"Oh Traveler! You came! I'm so sorry, this is such a mess, but if you could just let Vex use my powers for a little while, while we fix this, that would be super, super cool of you." Jester said hopefully. Behind her, she heard Vex get to her feet and take a step forward, to stand next to Jester. She looked at the Traveler, cocking her head to the side in speculation before taking a step forward.

"See?" Jester said "I told you, He's a real god, and He's-"

Vex took another step forward quickly and thrust back the Traveler's hood as Jester gasped. She hadn't seen His grown-up face in years, but it still looked at nice and comforting and awesome as she remembered.

"Artagan?" Vex said, in utter shock.

Jester turned to the other woman "Who?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, I have a completed draft! Chapters will go up every other day from now on, as I edit. :)

Artagan stood before the most important woman in his life, feeling incredibly distressed. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. He'd needed help, and since it was Vox Machina who had arranged for him to be on this plane in the first place, he thought it would be best to ask them. But he'd become a god, and he knew that they had Opinions about people who did things like that, opinions that sometimes led to things like Being Horribly Murdered. So it had seemed warranted to carefully plan out his approach. But then that was a large part of why he'd needed help in the first place; sometimes, when he tried to plan, he thought about things too hard, and when he did, they got Out Of Hand.

It hadn't always been this way. He'd enjoyed being Jester's god, only hers, helping to make her feel loved when her mother couldn't be there. He enjoyed it so much that he wanted to be able to make other people feel that way. It had been simple at first, noticing others who felt outcast and alone, whispering how wonderful it would feel to cause a little chaos in the world, to leave a mark so that they wouldn't feel invisible. Then Jester had started doing magic, and he'd realized that it was her belief in him that was giving her that power. He'd stayed away for almost a week, terrified. But nothing bad had happened. The worst part had been having to explain to Jester where he had been, why he had left her alone for that long. But as soon as he'd explained about visiting other followers she perked right up. She wanted to travel too, tell more people about him.

And she had. Oh goodness she had. His perfect girl, his first cleric, was so good at telling people about him, at using her powers in impressive ways, that of course others followed. Some of them prayed as a joke at first, but it was still a prayer, and there was still some small spark of faith that it would be answered. More faith led to more power. A whisper here, a visitation there, it was amazing, like every rich food he'd ever had, all rolled into one.

Then it had happened. One morning as he felt the first prayers of the day trickling in, he found that some were wrapped in terror. As soon as he focused he found Jester, his Jester, his sweet, brilliant sunbeam of a cleric. What he found made him run cold with rage. She lay in a cage, chained and gagged, tear tracks dried on her face. She couldn't speak, but he hadn't needed words from her, not in years. She called out to him in her mind, asking for help, asking for the strength to fight those who had caged her, asking for the healing to help the green one and the Aasimar, in cages beside her. He reached, moved to stand beside her and cut down any who stood in his way- and found that he could not. His power had limits they never had before, when he was simply an archfey and a sorcerer. Jester was there, and she had all the powers he had given to her, but that was it. He could only watch.

Watch as her friend, the delightfully chaotic purple one, was cut down. With no one to heal him, there was no hope. He watched with one eye as the survivors of her little band buried him, and with the other as Jester remained caged, crying again as the cart continued down the road.

It was unacceptable. He simply would not allow this. But as much as he pushed, he found that there were things he could not do. Donning the guise of an innkeeper and advising her friends was the best he could manage. And it was enough, in the end. They rescued Jester, got her away from those awful slavers, with their knives and jeers and groping hands. But even once she was safe, Artagan could see that it would be some time before his beautiful, joyful Jester would laugh again. What made it even worse was that when he finally felt he could show himself to her again, she apologized. _She_ apologized for failing _him_. No. This simply would not stand.

He'd tried consolidating his power, finding more ways to reach through to the prime material plane and act directly. At first he had successes. He'd thought he'd cracked it, found how he could be a god without the restrictions older deities seemed bound by. Then things had started to feel out of hand. It was as if the power was too much, didn't know where to go. He'd thought of asking Vox Machina for help, thought how nice it would be if they would take his power and good intent on faith, like Jester did. Yes, it would be so nice if Vox Machina could be more like Jester and her little friends, he'd thought. And what had it brought him, but this current disaster.

"Artagan?" Vex said again. And he couldn't even be angry at seeing that look of annoyance and distaste on his Jester's face. After all, this was all his fault.

"Jester, my dear, would you mind letting me speak with Lady Vex'alihia for a moment?" he said silkily.

"No. No, I think I want to hear this too, Traveler." Jester said. And even though it wasn't her face, knowing that it was her spirit behind the hurt and confusion made it even worse.

"Yes, alright. I suppose that's fair." He took a step back as the others started coming over. There was no way around this now. He took a breath and began. "I know you are confused, and that some of you may feel lied to," he focused on Jester, she was most important right now. "But I _am_ the Traveler. That is not a lie. It simply has not always been a constant truth. There was a time before that, when I had other names and journeyed in other places. And for a long time this plane was closed to me. Until a group of adventurers built me a doorway, to repay a favor." he nodded graciously at the assembled Vox Machina, ignoring their glares. "When I came to this plane I went various places, met people- and then I met a little girl. And that girl thought I was a god. And so, for her," and he looked hard a Jester, imploring her to understand, "for you, that is what I became."

"Okay, wait. We've seen all the things Vecna had to do to try and become a god. It took him centuries. You've barely been back on this plane two decades." Vax interjected.

"What have you been doing in that time? How many people have you killed?" Keyleth asked, the delicious, impulsive rage that always simmered in the powerful druid starting to surface. It would have been fun, really, if only it hadn’t been directed at him.

"I haven't been! There's been no murders, no plotting. Well, perhaps a little plotting, but- This wasn't- I didn't do this on purpose!" Artagan protested.

"I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way. You can't become a god by accident," Pike said severely.

"Clearly you can. Because I have."

"But- Traveler-" Jester sounded so lost, and as she fell silent he could almost see her thinking back through all her memories of their early meetings. "You never said you were a god." she said at last. "I said that, and you never said I was wrong. But you never said that." she cocked her head in consideration. "Was that why you were so surprised, when I started doing magic?"

"Yes," Artagan nodded. "I was surprised. And so, so proud. You are amazingly gifted, Jester, and you've accomplished brilliant things. Whatever shortcomings you may find in me do nothing to change that."

"Look, I think we need to take this conversation inside." said Vex. "No, just us," she clarified, when the Nein started to come as well. "You all just stay out here a minute. We're going to talk to Artagan on our own." A flood of protests followed, but between Vex and, surprisingly, Grog, they were able to talk them down. The group trudged into the house, various members of Vox Machina still trying not to stumble on unfamiliar feet. It took everything Artagan had in him to not look back at Jester as they moved inside the castle.

"I'm going to find Percy," Vex stated, heading off into the house as Artagan was left in a side receiving room with the rest of the group, to twiddle their thumbs and share wary, awkward glances.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look! More fic!

It was terribly strange to see Artagan looking wistfully down the hall after his sister. Vax had thought that the most disturbing look he would ever see on the archfey's face was the gleam in his eye as he'd held Vax by the throat and blocked his airway. Yet somehow, perhaps because death didn't really feel like such a big deal anymore, it was much more disturbing to see this, now. It seemed he was not the only one of this opinion.

"Just what the hell do you think you're playing at here?" Keyleth asked, impatience getting the better of her as anger gathered in her eyes. "We kept to your fucking deal, and now you pull something like this?" Artagan looked at her, a little unsettled, but also a bit amused.

"That's just how she looked at me. The one whose body you’re in. She's a spitfire, that one." he said, attempting a snug and carefree tone and only partially succeeding.

"Oh yeah, she's a great kid," Keyleth agreed with a false, poison-edged pleasantness in her tone that Vax had never heard before, but that he was quite sure she'd picked up from Vex. "And her body is just so well suited to kicking your teeth in. I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I took it for a spin." As she took a step forward, Grog of all people held up his hand.

"Maybe not, Keyleth? Not yet, at least. We need him talking, if you knock him out we've gotta wait until he wakes up." He left his arm up until she physically stepped back, going further past her original spot to loop her arm through Vax's. Slightly more contented, she settled for fixing Artagan with a glare.

"If Grog's the one counseling caution, I think we're all truly doomed," Scanlan said. The high pitch of his voice was still so strange, but then what out this situation wasn't? Vex returned a moment later, with both Percy's body and mind.

"Vex said I should ask you about Jester?" said Caduceus, politely curious as he spoke to Artagan. Of course. He had never seen the archfey before. Artagan looked at Vex questioningly.

"Oh yes, darling, I thought perhaps you could explain to Jester's good friend, the cleric of Melora, just what sort of things you've been playing at?" Vex asked. And yes, Vax could say with complete certainty that this was where Kiki had learned that unctuous tone.

Artagan sighed. "Yes, fine. Hello. I'm the Traveler." He left it hanging, let Caduceus come to his own conclusions. And clearly he did. Vax was very familiar with the expression on Percy's face, the polite coldness that swept in like frost and discounted anyone he didn't consider family. Yet it had been so long since that look was directed at him, or anyone else in Vox Machina, that he still found it odd.

"I believe I'd like to speak with my friends," Caduceus said, turning on his heel and vanishing down the hall without the briefest of acknowledgements to the rest of them.

A silence fell briefly as they listened to his footsteps clicking down the corridor. Once they'd faded, the group turned back to Artagan.

"So what do you want?" Pike asked. She was clearly enjoying having the size to back up her intimidating glares. It had always worked on Vox Machina, they knew better than to piss Pike off, no matter her size. But now she genuinely could kick someone's face in, and she seemed to be living for it. Scanlan would probably be enjoying it a great deal as well, if he weren't trapped in a body that he'd never even want to consider doing anything sexual with.

"I want your help." Artagan said, in a rush, as though it was very difficult. And for someone like him, it probably was.

"With what? You're a god. That's what- well, not everyone, but what a lot of people want, and you seem to have just managed it." Vex said.

"Yes. Yes I have. And do you have any idea how much there is to that? People pray to me! I get beseeched! And Jester isn't my only cleric, you know. It's all just- exhausting, frankly. And I'm not sure what to do about it." He sounded miserable.

"So you're here because you don't want the responsibility?" Percy pushed, speaking up for the first time in quite a while.

"What? No, that's not it, really. I thought it was, at first. I mean, me? Running people? Can you imagine?" Artagan gave a small, self deprecating laugh. "But I've found I like it. These people, so many of them lead such simple, boring lives. They just need a bit of chaos, a bit of adventure to spice things up. Making that happen for them, making their lives better... It's nice." Vax starred at him. He was aware he was gaping like a fish, and he didn't care. The idea that this was Artagan, the same Artagan they had known decades ago in the Feywild, was hard to contemplate.

"What's the problem then? Sounds like you've found your calling." Scanlan said, and he didn't sound near as mocking as Vax would have thought. Then again, though he'd always been happy to joke about pretty much anything, he never joked about Pike's devotion to Sarenrae, and from what Vax had seen, the bard had mellowed even more since he'd started exploring his own connection to Ioun.

"The problem is that they don't all just need a little chaos. Some of them are adventurers, like Jester. Some of them turn to me looking for escape from things far worse than boredom. And I can't be everywhere at once, I can't see things fast enough. I can't help them!" Artagan sounded genuinely distressed about this, and Vax could tell he wasn't the only one trying to work their way through the shock of it. In the end, it was Pike who made her way through it first, and spoke.

"Okay. Okay, okay. I think I have an idea."

* * *

As soon as the group that currently had use of their bodies had gone inside with Artagan, the smile slipped off Jester's face. Beau expected her to be angry. Hell, _Beau_ was angry, and it wasn't even her god who had been lying to her. But the look Jester had on her face was much worse than anger. She just looked so incredibly lost. Beau looked up at Fjord. He's usually the one who's good at talking to her, good at figuring out feelings. But he just looks confused, stuck, like he wants to say something but can't figure out what.

"Do you want us to kill him?" Nott asks. And of course she would jump to that, though honestly Beau wasn't too far off from that desire herself. And if nothing else, the question was enough to bring some emotion back to Jester's face.

"What? No, we aren't going to kill him, Nott, why would you ask that? And anyway, it's not like we could really kill a-" Jester stopped suddenly, and Beau could guess why. No, they couldn't kill a god. But was the Traveler a god? Or was he something else, more like Uk’otoa, granting powers and taking them away on a whim when his toys displeased him?

"Jess, we don't have to worry about that now. Right now is about you." Beau said, doing her best to sound gentle and not let the usual sarcasm color her tone. She was being serious about this, and it was important to her that Jester know that.

"Well, it is about the Traveler, a bit." Caduceus said, reappearing from wherever he'd been inside. Beau turned to glare at him, and he put up his hands in a placating gesture. "I'm not saying that letting Jester figure this out isn't important. But she's not herself right now. I'm not connected to the Wildmother in this body, and I'm sure if I was feeling- _strained_ \- in our relationship, that would be very stressful for me. Even more so than it already is. If he's the reason we're like this, he can put us back, and then Jester will have her magic, and her connection to him, and it will be much easier to sort this out."

Caduceus having long, drawn out opinions about things was definitely going to take some getting used to. Or if he was right, they wouldn't have time to get used to it at all.

"I think he's right," Jester said. "This will all be so much easier when I have my- wait. Caduceus! If he's not a god I can't be a cleric!" Beau thanked Ioun and whoever else might be out there that this body was apparently more adept at thinking before she spoke, because Beau just barely managed to not say 'but you hate healing'. Because that wasn't really true. Oh, Jester wanted to rush in sometime, she got excited. But she cared, so much. Perhaps too much at time. She always wanted to be able to make people feel better.

"Of course you can." Fjord sounded confused at her doubt. "Weren't you listening? He said he's a god because of you, Jester. Maybe you need him, but he needs you, too." This version of Fjord was so completely guileless that you couldn't help but believe him, Beau marveled. It seemed Jester felt the same way. She looked around, at all of them, then reached down to grip Nott's hand.

"Okay then. You’re right I think, Fjord. He does need me. So let's see what he needs me to do to help get Caleb back." And with the confidence returned to her step, Jester turned and led the group inside, ready to face her god again.


	18. Chapter 18

"I'm thinking this will work best in a temple, or at least a shrine." Pike said. "And I think we need to start in yours, actually." this was directed at Vax, who tilted his head inquiringly.

"I'm sure She'll want to help, but why start there? Don't you think Sarenrae might be a bit... more suited to the situation?" Vax asked. More forgiving, Scanlan would bet he meant. And he was probably right, but Scanlan was still stuck in a goblin's body, and he didn't feel like being forgiving at the moment.

"I think we'll need them both, but Yasha's already managed to use my magic, so she can ask Sarenrae for help from wherever we are. You aren't here, so we'll need a shrine. And besides, if we don't do absolutely everything we can to check in on their missing friend as soon as possible, those guys in our bodies will probably try to kill us, and that would just be awkward." Pike stayed light and joking, but there was an edge of force to it. Scanlan knew he was starting to look like he was going to freak out again, and she wanted to stave that off as much as possible. It was appreciated, and he reached over to squeeze her hand. It was a very long reach. Yeah, they definitely needed to get back into their own bodies as soon as possible.

"Why are we going to a shrine? You still haven't told me what you want to do." Artagan said, suspiciously.

"You are already being a god, and you actually don't suck at it too badly, so maybe if we ask other gods, we can help you suck even less." Pike said simply.

"I don't know how this all works, but even if they couldn't do anything about it directly, it seemed like a lot of god-types knew when Vecna was pulling his shit." Scanlan added. "Maybe they just haven't noticed you yet?" Artagan shook his head.

"At least one of them knows. The Wildmother. You know Jester travels with a cleric and a paladin of hers, and- it's been a while now, but a friend of hers died. Not the purple one, him," he gestured at Percy. "She cast a spell to bring him back, and I'd never seen that done before, didn't have the experience. But he was the Wildmother's so I suppose she took an interest. Showed up and helped guide the whole thing. Which means at the very least she knows."

Scanlan pondered this. "Then maybe they actually don't mind? I mean, Vecna was trying to basically destroy the world, I feel like that was the main problem. Didn't the Raven Queen used to be mortal, Vax?" At Vax's nod, he continued, "So sometimes these things happen. Which means it can’t hurt to ask. We'll ask about you, but mostly we’ll ask what the fuck you did to us, and how to fix it." He finished with a glare. This was an interesting problem, it really was, and he was going to be able to get to much mileage out of the stories he got from this experience. But that was the thing about experiences that turned into amazing stories, wasn't it? You never much enjoyed it while you were living through them.

* * *

The Nein ended up running into the Traveler and their bodies coming out through the front door when they went to find them. The cleric had an idea, apparently, so that was something. Beau knew that she should be doing a better job of tracking everything that was happening, but she just couldn't seem to manage it. And anyway, it was about gods, and Caduceus seemed to have things in hand, with Nott backing him up. Which meant that Beau could look after Jester. That was good, because she was really the only one left to do it.

There was a sort of unspoken agreement between her, Fjord, and Caleb. Oh, they were all family, they all loved each other. But Jester was precious, and she didn't always let on when she was hurt. She needed to have an eye kept on her, to make sure she was taking good enough care of herself. But Caleb wasn't here, and Fjord was just so out of it with the whole situation, easily distracted and flighty. And moreover, Jester had just had the foundation of her world shifted. She needed someone watching out for her, even more than usual. So Beau listened with one ear to the conversations around her as the group headed down a path outside the castle walls, and mostly watched Jester.

Because she was doing this, it was very apparent when the Traveler tried to be smooth about sidling up next to his cleric. Beau considered stepping into his path, but held back. Jester had had enough choices taken away from her in this situation, Beau certainly wasn't going to take another.

"Yes Traveler?" Jester asked with an overly perky smile. The god sighed, clearly seeing through her.

"I'm sure you have questions, Jester, and I’m happy to answer them, truly, I-"

"No." Jester said firmly, cutting him off.

After taking a moment to accustom himself (the Traveler clearly wasn't used to being interrupted), he asked "What do you mean?"

"No, I don't have questions right now. Or, I have them, but I'm not going to ask them. You need our help getting us back into our bodies, so we're going to help you. Then we can talk as much as you like, I promise." She sounded very calm and firm, no trace of the tremble that had been in her voice when she talked to the Nein, and Beau was so proud of her.

"I don't- Alright, Jester," he sighed, "Whatever you think is best."

"Thank you, Traveler," Jester said, with a much more genuine smile. The group came to a halt in front of what looked like it had once been a crypt, though now it was somewhat nicer than most crypts she had seen, and given the corvid-heavy decorating scheme, Beau guessed this was the local shrine to the Raven Queen.

"So what now?" Fjord asked, as the whole group stood awkwardly in the small clearing in front of the shrine. Vax stepped forward and opened the door, leaving it ajar as he went into the shrine. From her vantage, Beau could see him go to one knee before the altar, and she guessed he'd started a prayer.

Suddenly, the air around them seemed thick, heavy in a way that was like humidity, but with a sharper taste. It was daylight out, but things seemed to get much brighter, except over the shrine, where a shadow settled. Looking around for the source of the brightness, Beau found what appeared to be the center point of the glow, over to their left. Just as she was about to say something, half the glow began to speak.

"So we're finally solving this little problem, are we?" a woman's voice said, gently amused.


	19. Chapter 19

The woman who had appeared reminded Grog of Keyleth, if Keyleth had somehow been made of the sun and the moon at the same time. She laid a hand on the shoulder of Grog's body, and the other on Percy's body. Both Fjord and Caduceus seemed to immediately relax, and for a moment Grog was irrationally jealous, that She would go to them, even if they didn't have Her magic at the moment. He shook his head briefly, he knew it wasn’t fair, but She just looked too warm and perfect, and he wanted part of that for himself. Still, it was unfair; She wasn't his goddess, and it wasn't as though he got jealous of Pike about Sarenrae, who was definitely the best and nicest goddess there was, since She had Pike on her side.

Melora walked past Her cleric and paladin to stand in front of Artagan. There was a rush of cool wind, and the Raven Queen appeared, standing in the doorway of Her temple where Vax knelt. He looked up at Her, his face more than a bit uncertain, and She reached down to cup his cheek in Her hand.

"Be at peace, my champion. I know this is not of your doing or by your choice. It is not an attempt at intercession, nor would I mark it as such." As She moved to stand with Melora, Vax relaxed, stood, and went to join his sister.

The Raven Queen looked over at Sarenrae's shining form, which had remained behind Pike and Yasha when Melora has moved forward.

"Do you wish to have voice in this matter, sister?" She asked, Her voice a strange and haunting echo. Sarenrae laughed, sounding so much like Pike in that moment that Grog felt himself relaxing. Whether she was herself or not, his monstah was always going to be his favorite person in the world.

"I think not. Much as few know of me in Wildemount, there are few who follow the Traveler in Tal'Dorei. I am here as an observer, for the time being." When Sarenrae spoke it was like a warm blanket or a wave of honey flowed over them all. Accepting this, attention turned back to Artagan.

"So. You think yourself worthy of our ranks?" The Raven Queen asked him, with no inflection in her voice, no hint as to what her opinion might be. Artagan's eyes widened, though he managed to stand his ground.

* * *

He wasn't saying anything. He wasn't saying anything, and Jester needed him to say something, needed this to be alright again. But perhaps it was like what Beau and Fjord had been saying earlier. Perhaps she needed to make it right herself.

"I mean, technically, _technically_ , he's already in your ranks. He's got shrines, and people praying to him, and clerics and stuff. That's what gods have," she said, making a point of sounding light and careless about it, as though it was completely obvious and everyone else couldn't help but agree with her. It worked pretty well most of the time, but she'd never tried it on any gods.

"That's also what cult leaders have." Pike said from where she stood beside Yasha and her own god. Like Sarah-whoever was so much better than the Traveler! It wasn't like she'd come to teach Yasha how to make her magic work, Jester and Caduceus had to do that. So what did Pike think gave her the right to judge other people's gods anyway?

"Can cult leaders give people magic? Because I don't think they can, and the Traveler gave me super cool powers, I've even brought people back from the dead, so do you want to keep saying I'm not a real cleric?" As she spoke Jester's anger grew. She hadn't realized just how angry she was about this whole situation. It wasn't fair, and she didn't have anyone to be angry with. She couldn't be angry at the Traveler, not yet. Not because he was her god and it wouldn't be right. Because she’d always been able to be honest with him, even in anger. Even when he wasn’t honest with her. But because he had come to them asking for help. She needed to help him, and that meant the anger had to wait. Pike she could definitely be angry with though, and right now it felt really good.

"Okay, okay, okay. No one is saying that." Pike said, holding out her hands in a calming gesture, which looked pretty funny on someone Yasha's size.

"I mean it kinda sounded like you were," Beau said defensively, and funnily enough, that almost instantly made Jester feel less angry. Because she didn't need to prove anything to these people. Everyone who mattered already knew the important things, so why bother caring what the rest of them thought?

"It's true, I have seen his cleric channel divine power," the Wildmother said thoughtfully. "Perhaps we should have this discussion in a more private venue." She raised her hand, and a wave of warm light flashed over them all, causing the mortals to shield their eyes from the intense light. When they blinked the spots from their eyes and were able to see clearly again, all four of the divine beings had vanished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay. Okay. Okay. So I love Pike, but I feel like she would be pretty judgey about this, and she usually keeps it inside, but now she's in Beau, and Beau wouldn't know a verbal filter if it walked up and started making out with her, so....


	20. Chapter 20

Artagan shook himself like an annoyed cat. He was familiar enough with trans-planar teleportation to know when it was happening, but it didn't mean he enjoyed being pulled into it without notice. Turning to the goddesses who now stood in a semi-circle before him, he gathered all the arrogance that came from centuries of life as an archfey. This was the face he showed Vox Machina, this was the truth of Artagan. This, surely, was what he needed to impress these deities.

"You wanted to continue our discussion with fewer prying eyes?" he prompted, pushing to sound as careless as he felt advisable.

"I felt it would be best for you, certainly." Melora responded, her tone making it clear that he wasn't fooling anyone. "That girl has so much faith in you. It wouldn't do to give her more reason to doubt." Artagan felt the wariness inside him give way to rage. How dare she talk about Jester in that way?

"And doesn't she have a right to her doubts? What is faith if it is blind, and doesn't leave room for question and choice? If you would have me take that away from her, from all the others, then perhaps it is you who doesn't deserve to be called divine, not me," he said, not bother to hide the anger in his voice.

"He has quite a point, sister," Sarenrae spoke up, amusement in her voice, before turning back to Artagan. "You've clearly put more thought into this than I for one would have given you credit for. So perhaps it is worth hearing you out, after all." she narrowed her eyes as she looked at him. "You told my Pike that you wanted their help. What was it, exactly, that you wanted them to do?"

Artagan shifted back on his heels, nervously. Perhaps this was it, perhaps he really would be able to work things out.

"I wanted to find a way to be more powerful." he said, simply. The air around him seemed to get colder, and all three women drew up to their full heights.

"For what purpose?" The Raven Queen asked, voice sharp enough to cut glass.

"For what... for the only purpose there could be!" Artagan said, exasperated. These ladies had hundreds and thousands more followers than he did, surely he didn't have to explain to them. And yet from the way they looked at him, clearly he did. "There are so many of them, and they need so much, all the time, and I can't always be there! And sometimes, even when I am there, I can't help them. If I really were a god, properly, all the way, surely I would be able to reach out and help them, no matter the circumstances. I've managed to get stuck halfway, or something, and I need to get the rest of the way there. I can't help them like this, not in all the ways they deserve." Not in the ways she deserved. And he knew, as she grew in her power and in her confidence, as she needed him less, and he spent more time with others, that he would begin to feel this way for some of the others as well. She would always be the first, but she would certainly not be the last.

It felt for a moment as though the entire plane they were on was holding its breath. Then as one, all three of the goddesses before him burst out laughing. Each laugh was slightly different, Melora's soft and sweet, the Raven Queen's sharp and cool without being cold, and Sarenrae's filled with warmth.

"Oh you sweet boy," Melora said, through her laughter. "You thought- oh dear." she dissolved into laughter again and broke off her speech.

"All being have limits, Artagan," the Raven Queen said, and for the first time her voice also seemed warm, seemed understanding. "The limits _of_ divine power are so much fewer, but there must be balance, always. Which means that the limits _on_ divine power are far greater."

"It means you can't always be there, you can't always hold their hands. You can't always save them." Sarenrae said, and it wasn't difficult to detect the sadness in her tone. "But, balance. It also means that through you, they are far more equipped to save themselves then they might otherwise be."

Artagan thought about this. It wasn't what he'd wanted, not really. But perhaps- he'd been so angry at them for doubting Jester's faith in him. Perhaps it was time that he had a bit more faith in her, and in the others.

"So what now? I assume you haven't come only to laugh at me," he said, with a slightly self-deprecating smile.

"No. No we haven't. You have been playing far to freely with the boundaries of godhood. It is time that comes to an end." Melora said. "We will help you correct this thing you have done to our servants and their friends, and then you will come with us, beyond the divine gate. You will have less freedom. But your people will have far more. Do you accept this?"

It was nice of her, really, to frame it as though he had any other option. Though if he was serious about giving it a try, about having faith in his followers, this would certainly be the way to start.

"I do, and I thank you. Now, suppose we should get back to them? I think my dear cleric has been fretting about her friend stuck beyond your veil long enough." he said, and appreciated it when the Raven Queen's eyes crinkled in amusement.

"Quite." she said. "Between this little adventure, and that ridiculous teifling being stuck in limbo, I daresay my champion hasn't had such excitement in years." She tilted her head slightly, and said quietly, as though to herself, “perhaps he deserves just a bit more.”

"Yes, we should certainly get this set to rights, before my poor cleric's head explodes." Melora said with a roll of her eyes. It was interesting, he'd never thought of deities as being sarcastic before, or as having a sense of humor. But then, both were true of him. Perhaps he hadn't really been thinking of himself as a god in some ways, until now.

"Indeed. Come along, brother." Sarenrae said, clapping a hand on his shoulder before engulfing them all again in a burst of warm light.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me writing a conversation about gods and faith: Lace, your Judaism is showing... lol
> 
> One last chapter on this story tomorrow, and then... Well, and then a little surprise ;)


	21. Chapter 21

At first both groups had stood around, waiting to see if the gods would be reappearing as quickly as they had disappeared. When it became evident this would not be the case, they broke off into smaller groups and set around the green area outside the shrine, enjoying the noontime sun.

To the utter shock of Vex and every other member of Vox Machina, Scanlan voluntarily went over and plopped himself down beside Nott, who was weaving flowers together into a crown.

"Tell me about your son?" he asked. Clearly this was a continuation of their earlier conversation. Nott lit up, and began chattering about her boy, who was five years old and clearly the light of her life. Vex smiled, remembering watching Vesper grow up and all the joy of her various 'firsts'. She couldn't imagine having still been adventuring at that time in her life, but it seemed to be working for Nott and her husband, so she wasn't really of a mind to judge.

Percy was leaning up against a tree, and she went over to stand with him.

"How are you managing, darling?" she asked quietly, looping her arms around his waist. He wound an arm around her shoulders and stood there in silence for almost a minute, serenely surveying their friends, before he spoke.

"It's better, I think. Talking to Caduceus certainly helped. He's struggling as much as I am, we're very different people. And yet not as much as I would have thought, at first. It's nice, really, to remind myself there's so much left in the world that can surprise me." He smiled softly, and Vex reached up to tweak his nose.

"That's wonderful, and I'm very glad. Just be sure you keep that frame of mind the next time Vesper brings a date home, hmm?" she said with a small laugh, which grew into a full chuckle when Percy rolled his eyes and scowled.

A wave of light filled the clearing once more, and the various deities returned. Vex watched as Jester ran over to Artagan, chattering and fluttering her hands. They were too far away for her to make out what was being said, but after letting her bounce for a few minutes Artagan put his hands on Jester's shoulders and she settled instantly. He spoke to her for several minutes more, ignoring that everyone else was watching them, looking at her as though she was the only person present. When he finished, she pulled him into a hug, which he readily returned. That, more than anything else that had happened so far, convinced Vex that Artagan was really different than he had been when they first met him.

As they stood embracing, the Raven Queen came over to stand beside Vax, and Vex stiffened. It couldn't be time already, surely?

* * *

Vax straightened as his patron approached. He'd known this wouldn't last for long. He wasn't supposed to be here, not really. It didn't feel right anymore, being on the Prime Material Plane for this long. Still, there were things he wished he could have done differently before, and he really didn't want to make the same mistakes twice.

"Is it time?" he asked. When she nodded, he met her gaze "I don't suppose we could wait a moment? I'd really appreciate being able to say goodbye properly, this time." She glanced around at the group standing in the grove, questioningly, then a look of understanding came to her face.

"It will be seen to, you have me word," she said evenly. He nodded, bowing his head briefly in thanks. "And are the rest of you prepared?" she asked, turning to the group at large. Vox Machina surged around him, stopping just short of touching him, suddenly uncertain. Vax reached towards Vex, first, wrapping his arms around her.

"It has been such a gift to get to meet some of your children. I love you, and them, very much." He turned to the rest of the group.

"Seeing you all, speaking with you, being here like this, is more than I could have ever hoped for. Stay safe, and out of trouble. I don't want to be speaking with any of you again after this, not for a very long time." He dropped his arm from Vex and went to Keyleth. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears, but even in this she had become stronger. He embraced her and spoke into her ear.

"I am so very proud of you. Seeing you grow in strength and grace is my greatest joy, and when you have passed through all the fires life has for you, I will be waiting, my love." Now her tears fell, as did his. They gave each other a squeeze, and just as their grips loosened there was another warm flash, and Vax found himself in a familiar darkness once again.

* * *

A wave of darkness had come over Caleb, and then suddenly he was blinking against bright daylight. He found himself entangled in another person and instinctively stepped back, hands falling to his component pouch in caution. Once his vision cleared, he found that it was Beauregard he had been cuddled up against. They both eyed each other awkwardly before Jester, real Jester, her whole exuberant blueberry self, clobbers them both in a hug, squeezing them together and lifting them.

"Ow! Ow, shit Jester, what the-"

"Jester would you please put us down?" Caleb asked, unable to keep the smile from his face, despite feeling squashed.

"Fine, fine, it's just so great to be strong again. You're great and all, and super hot, but you're really weak, actually, you should try working out sometimes." Jester said to the dark-haired women standing across the clearing, with a tag pinned to her tunic that read 'Jester'. The purple-clad gnomish man laughed uproariously.

"Well at least you're hot, Vex." he said through his laughter. She reached over and smacked him on the back of the head, her face curling into a smile that seemed to be slightly tinged with sadness. The white-haired human whose tag read 'Caduceus' came over and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Caleb? Caleb, it's really you now, right?" Nott asked, running up to scrabble at his coat in an attempt to command his attention.

"Yes Nott. Yes, I'm here again, I'm sorry to have left for such a while." he gave her shoulder a squeeze, before turning to Yasha. "Mollymauk sends his love. To all of you, of course, but Yasha- He was with you, as much as he could be, while you were trapped with Obann. He wanted me to tell you, to remind you that even without the circus, you have a new tribe now. And that even when we are far away, you are never alone, because we are always coming for you." As he spoke Yasha's eyes filled with tears, and she made no move to wipe them away.

"You're all welcome to stay a bit, of course. I believe Allura wanted us to discuss the matter of the Chained Oblivion?" Percy said in a raised tone, to be heard by everyone in the clearing.

"Well yes, but first we have to-" Pike turned to where her goddess had been standing moments before, only to see that all four figures had vanished from sight.

* * *

As the group trudged back down to the castle, Nott jogged up to walk abreast with Scanlan.

"Listen, there's something I wanted to talk to you about," she said, her voice high and a bit unsure. But not unpleasant. Scanlan was surprised by it, but he no longer immediately recoiled at her presence. Perhaps you really were never too old to change.

"Is this about the spell to change your form? Because I think we could-" Nott cut him off.

"No. No, I appreciate it, really I do, but I think we have that handled. No, I wanted to talk to you- and Percy, I suppose- about the Whitestone residuum trade."

* * *

It had been a very long day indeed. Shaun found it hard to comprehend that he'd started the morning in Emon, with everything that had happened since then. The evening had run late enough that he took Vex up on her offer of a guest room in Whitestone, rather than trying to navigate the road down to his rooms above the shop in town.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Shaun sighed. There would be more work to do. He and all of the more academically inclined members of Vox Machina had agreed to research the Chained Oblivion and inform the Mighty Nein if they came across anything useful. Percy was also planning to look into their trade connections with the Cerberus Assembly. Though the look Percy had on his face when he said that, after hearing why Nott was so concerned about it, made Shaun think that this 'looking into it' would be a bit more hands-on than even the highly mercenary Nott had intended. But that was alright. Percy needed to work off a bit of aggression from time to time, it was really only healthy.

They were gone now, the Nein, going with their drow friend back to Roshona to continue trying to stop a war. And wasn't that a sentence. They seemed frightfully young and underequipped for such a thing, but then Shaun had to remind himself that he had felt the same way about Vox Machina, when they first appeared in his shop all those years ago.

There was a soft knock at the door, and Shaun rose to answer it. As soon as his eyes adjusted to the dimmer torchlight of the hallway, he froze. There, his pallor standing out starkly in the shadows, stood Vax'ildan.

"The- how are- is this-" Shaun's usual eloquence was lost to him as he tried to muddle his way through understanding what was happening.

"It isn't forever, it isn't permanent." Vax said in a low, calming voice. "But this would have been the second time I left you without being able to say a proper goodbye. And I do try not to make the same mistakes twice. We have until dawn." The soft smile on Vax's face faltered slightly. "That is- I mean only if you wanted-"

With a great, undignified roll of his eyes, Shaun grabbed Vax's shoulder and pulled him into the room, shutting the door firmly behind them before reaching up to fiddle with a piece of wire wrapped around a lock of his hair. “Keyleth,” he said in a whisper, remaining by the door as Vax proceeded into the room, “You might wish to come to my room, dear.” Suddenly the night was full of promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that 's all, folks! When I reached this point I knew I could either end it here or do another 25k of 'what happens next', and I've decided that for now it's better to leave it.
> 
> Except I did say there was a surprise! I decided that what this really needed was a smut epilogue, and I didn't want to raise the rating on the whole fic, so there should be an arrow down at the bottom to get to the 'second story in the series', if I've done this right...
> 
> Thank you everyone for reading, I've enjoyed writing this story very much, and it's been so delightful to see everyone reading and commenting and kudos-ing. Stay well and be safe!


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